Deflection: pulling a defender away
In short
Many positions are held together by one defender: a piece guarding the back rank, protecting a key square, or covering another piece. Deflection means forcing that defender to leave its post — often by offering it something it must take or by attacking it with check.
By the end you can
- Identify overloaded or key defenders
- Deflect them with checks, captures or sacrifices
The lesson
Many positions are held together by one defender: a piece guarding the back rank, protecting a key square, or covering another piece. Deflection means forcing that defender to leave its post — often by offering it something it must take or by attacking it with check.
When a defender has two jobs at once, it is overloaded. Attack one of its duties and it must abandon the other. Ask “what is this piece protecting?” for every enemy piece near the action.
Key points to remember
- Find the piece holding everything together
- Overloaded = two jobs
- Force it away with check, capture or sacrifice
Examples
Show the solution
34. Ne7+ Kh8 35. Rxf8#
Show the solution
55. Rxc1 Nxc1+ 56. Nxd1
Practise it
Solve puzzles on this idea: deflection puzzles, capturing the defender puzzles.
Homework
20 deflection puzzles.
More tactics lessons
- Hanging pieces: take them and don’t leave them (Novice)
- Double attacks and forks (Novice)
- Pins: pieces that cannot move (Novice)
- Forks with every piece (Class F)
- Using and breaking pins (Class F)
- Skewers and x-rays (Class F)