TacticsPlay as white

Spot the Threat

After every opponent move, ask one question: what does this threaten?

Introduction

Most games at this level are lost to a threat nobody saw, not to a brilliant combination. The cure is a habit: after every move your opponent makes, stop and ask "what does this move threaten?" — run through their checks, their captures and their attacks before you think about your own plan. In this lesson you sit on White's side but play Black's moves: the threats your opponent is about to carry out. Seeing them from their side is how you learn to see them coming.

Lesson Content

Try this position

Black to move — your opponent. Start with their checks, because a check forces your answer. Black has four: Nf3+, Nb3+, Rf2+ and c3+. Now ask what each one attacks besides the king. From f3 the knight hits the king on d2 and the rook on e5 at the same time — a fork. White has to move the king, and the rook on e5 is lost.

ThreatFork

Try this position

1. ..Nf3+

The knight checks the king on d2 and attacks the rook on e5 in the same move. White must move the king, and then Nxe5 takes the rook — Black wins a whole rook.

ThreatFork

Alternative Moves

Rf2+ — Also a check, but it attacks only the king: after Ke1 the rook takes on b2 and White answers Ra6+ — Black has won a pawn instead of the rook on e5, and the position is level.

Try this position

2. Rf5+

The rook checks along the fifth rank, where the king on e5 and the rook on a5 both stand. The king cannot take on f5 — the pawn on g6 guards that square — so it must step off the rank, and Rxa5 wins the rook for nothing. A check that lines up the king with a piece behind it is a skewer.

ThreatSkewer

Alternative Moves

Re1+ — A check, but the king simply steps to f4, and the rook on a5 is neither attacked nor in line with the king. Black has spent the move on a check that wins nothing, and White stays a knight ahead.

Try this position

2. ..Rg8#

Checks first — and this check is checkmate. From g8 the rook covers the whole back rank, so a8 and c8 are gone; the black king on c6 takes away b7 and c7; and White's own pawn on a7 blocks the last square. Rg8# ends the game. Before you play any move, this is the threat you must have seen.

ThreatMating Net

Alternative Moves

Rb4+ — The other check, and a disaster: after Kc8 nothing stops a8=Q, and the new queen turns Black's mate in one into a lost game.

Try this position

Not every threat is a check or a capture. Look at White's queen on g4 and king on g1: they share the g-file with nothing between them. A black rook landing on g6 would pin the queen — it could not leave the file without exposing the king, so White would have to give it up for the rook. When you scan your opponent's moves, look for a line like this: your king and queen on one file, rank or diagonal is an invitation.

ThreatPin

Try this position

3. ..Rg6

A quiet move, and the strongest on the board. The rook pins the queen to the king: the queen cannot step off the g-file, so White's best is Qxg6+ Kxg6 — a queen for a rook, and Black is four points of material ahead.

ThreatPin

Alternative Moves

Qxg4+ — Trading queens throws the pin away: after hxg4 the queens are gone, material is level, and the queen Black could have won for a rook is off the board.

Try this position

White has just put the queen on d5. Your opponent moves next — what does Black threaten?

ThreatHanging Piece

Try this position

Your opponent has just moved. What is the first thing to do?

Threat

Try this position

Spotting comes first. Here White can no longer save the queen on d5 — the moment to see the pawn on e6 was one move earlier, before the queen landed there. Once you do see a threat in time, defending is usually simple: move the piece, guard the square, block the line, or answer with a bigger threat of your own. That is the next unit. For now, make the question automatic: after every opponent move, "what does this threaten?" — their checks, their captures, and the shapes you now know: a fork square, a pin on the king or queen, a skewer, a mate in one, a piece left hanging.

ThreatDefence

Key Takeaways

Every opponent move changes what they can do next — check their checks, captures and attacks before you think about your own plan.
Checks first: a check forces your answer, and some checks are forks, skewers or mate.
Quiet threats count too — a pin or a hanging piece wins as much material as a check.
Spotting comes before defending: a threat you see one move early is usually easy to meet.

Now play it through

Step through every move on a real board, try the wrong ones, and ask Knighty why they fail.

Practice Interactively

Related Lessons

The Skewer

Kill Box Mate

Hanging Pieces

Summary

After every opponent move, ask "what does this threaten?" Run through their checks, captures and attacks from their side of the board, and look for the five shapes: a fork square, a pin on the king or queen, a skewer, a mate in one, a piece left hanging. See it first — defending it is the easy part.

Ready to Practice?

Practice Interactively

Next in this course

Discovered Attack

Take this lesson with you

Free account required

Download as PGN MD PDF

With every variation — opens in Lichess & ChessBase