Counting Attackers

Look at the black knight on g7. The rook on c7 defends it, so it is not hanging. Now count. White attacks g7 twice: with the rook on g6 and with the king on f6. Black defends it once: with the rook on c7. Two against one — White wins the knight. The exchange runs ♖︎xg7 ♖︎xg7 ♔︎xg7: White gives a rook and takes a knight and a rook. Repeat this before every capture: count your attackers, count their defenders.

Count the attackers and the defenders of the black knight. If you have more, start the exchange.

♖︎xg7 — the rook takes first. The king cannot start the exchange: the knight is defended, and a king can never take a defended piece. Black recaptures with the rook from c7, and ♔︎xg7 takes that rook back. White gave a rook and took a knight and a rook: a knight won for nothing, and White ends a pawn up.

A black pawn is one step from becoming a queen. Count the attackers and defenders on it, then start the exchange with the right piece.

♗︎xc2 — the count works for pawns too, and this pawn matters: on c2 it is one step from becoming a queen. White attacks it twice, with the bishop on d1 and the king on b3. Black defends it once, with the bishop on e4. Two against one. The bishop takes first, because the king cannot take a defended pawn. If Black recaptures with the bishop from e4, ♔︎xc2 takes that bishop back: bishop for bishop, the dangerous pawn is gone, and White is a pawn up.

Count on c4. The black bishop there is attacked twice: by the rook on c1 and by the queen on b3. The rook on c8 defends it once. Two against one — White wins the bishop. But now a second question: which piece takes first? Use the piece values: pawn 1, knight 3, bishop 3, rook 5, queen 9. Rook first: White gives a rook (5) and takes a bishop (3) and a rook (5) — a bishop won for nothing. Queen first: White gives the queen (9) and takes the same bishop and rook (8) — a pawn's worth lost, and the queen is gone. Always capture with the cheapest piece first.

Two white pieces attack the same black piece. Start the exchange — and think about which piece goes first.

♖︎xc4 — the rook, the cheaper attacker, takes first. Black recaptures with the rook from c8, and ♕︎xc4 takes that rook. White gave a rook and took a bishop and a rook: a bishop won for nothing, with the queen still on the board.

Count on e2. The black pawn there is attacked twice: by the knight on f4 and by the king on e1. The pawn on f3 defends it once. Two against one. Should White take the pawn?

Here the count is even. The black knight on f3 is attacked once, by the king on g3, and defended once, by the rook on f8. One against one — and a king cannot take a defended piece at all, so right now White wins nothing. But a count can change. If White brings a second attacker to the knight, it becomes two against one. The same idea works in defence: when your own piece is attacked more often than it is defended, add a defender or move it away.

The knight is attacked once and defended once. Bring a second attacker to it.

♖︎f1 — the rook joins the attack on f3. Two attackers now, the rook on f1 and the king on g3, against one defender, the rook on f8. The knight cannot run away either: the rook on f8 stands behind it on the f-file, and the moment the knight leaves, ♖︎xf8 takes that rook. Whatever Black does, a piece is lost. Black plays ♖︎f6, and the knight still has one defender against two attackers.

The count is in your favour now. Take the knight — with the right piece.

♖︎xf3 — count again, then take with the rook: the king cannot, because the knight is still defended. If Black recaptures with the rook from f6, ♔︎xf3 takes that rook back. White gave a rook and took a knight and a rook: a knight for nothing, and two extra pawns in a king-and-pawn endgame — a winning advantage.

Run the routine: count your attackers, count their defenders. The black rook on d3 is attacked twice, by the rook on d1 and by the queen on c4, and defended once, by the rook on d8. Two against one — White wins it. Which capture is right?