Attack and defence at master level
In short
At master level, attacks rarely succeed with only one or two pieces. Bring every piece into the attack, use pawn levers to open lines, and look for quiet strengthening moves before the decisive sacrifice.
By the end you can
- Conduct attacks with all pieces
- Defend against sophisticated attacks
The lesson
At master level, attacks rarely succeed with only one or two pieces. Bring every piece into the attack, use pawn levers to open lines, and look for quiet strengthening moves before the decisive sacrifice.
The defender’s resources are equally sophisticated: counter-sacrifices, central counter-attacks and timely exchanges. Train both sides of the same positions.
Key points to remember
- All pieces in the attack
- Quiet moves before the sacrifice
- Train both attacker and defender
Examples
Show the solution
25. Ne7+ Kf7 26. Qd5+ Ke8 27. f7+ Rxf7 28. Qxf7+
Practise it
Solve puzzles on this idea: kingside attack puzzles, exposed king puzzles, sacrifice puzzles.
Homework
Play out five attacking positions against the engine from both sides.
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)