2 Discovered Attack

Like the fork (seeChapter 1), the discovered the rear piece. In the above example the e7-
attack is a way of creating two threats at the pawn is the firing piece and the black queen
same time. Unlike the fork, the discovered at- is the rear piece. The rear piece in a discov-
tack involves twoattacking pieces. The fol- ered attack is always a line-moving piece
lowing diagram shows the basic idea. (rook, bishop or queen) but the firing piece
can be anything.
a b C d e t g h

8
a b C d e f g h
B
8
7 B

7
6

6
5

5
4

4
3

3
2

2
1

Grubisić - Tischendorf
Darmstadt 1993 Z. Almasi - Adams
European Team Ch, Pula 1997

White has an undefended knight on g5,

which is on the same diagonal as Black's Here's another example. Black's queen
queen. At the moment there is a black pawn and bishop are lined up on the long diagonal,
in the way, but Black now played 16...e6. and Black would be able to take the white

This moves the pawn out of the way, discov- knight on f3 if only his own d5-knight were
ering an attack by the black queen on White's not in the way. Any move by this knight will
knight. At the same time the pawn itself at- threaten to win a piece by...xf3, but White
tacks the white queen. Thus Black has cre- can meet this single threat by, for example,
ated two threats, one directly and one by Ze3. Therefore Black must look for a way to
discovery. White's queen cannot move so as move the d5-knight so as to set up a second
to defend the knight, and so White loses a threat. The move 27...f6 fits the bill admi-
piece. In the game White struggled on for a rably. In addition to the threat to the f3-

few moves before resigning. knight, Black directly attacks White's queen.
In a discovered attack, we call the piece White cannot cope with both threats and
which actually moves the firing piece and must lose a piece; he therefore resigned im-
the piece which has its line of attack opened mediately.
 26 LEARN CHESS TACTICS

A discovered attack may not exist immedi- a b C d e f g h

ately, but can be prepared by a suitable se-
8
W
quence of forcing moves.
7

a b C d e f g h 6
8
B 5

7
4

6
3

5 2

2 Rašik - Isonzo
Mitropa Cup, Leipzig 2002
1

In this position the two queens are lined

Portisch - Karpov up, with only white bishop separating them.
a
Biel 1999
The game ended 32 xh7+ and Black re-
signed, since he has to deal with the check,
In this position there is a potential discov- whereupon White can safely take Black's
ered attack along the long diagonal. White queen.
has an undefended rook on h1 which would
g2 moved away.
be under threat if the rook on
However, there is no immediate discovered a b C d e f g h

attack and, moreover, Black must first deal 8

W
with the attack on his queen. Karpov solved
7
the problem by 18...xb5!. This preliminary
sacrifice not only eliminates the attack on 6
the queen, but also deflects the white bishoр
5
away from e2, and so allows Black to play his
rook to g4. The finish was 19 xb5 g4 and 4

White resigned because he must now move

3
his queen, whereupon he loses a whole rook
on h1. Taking into account the initial sacri- 2

fice on b5, the net result is that Black has won

1
a piece.

A check is one of the most forcing moves, Karpov - Leko

so a discovered attack which is also a check Tilburg 1996
gives the defender less chance to escape from
his predicament. Either of the two pieces This is a more complex example because a

involved in a discovered attack can deliver preliminary sacrifice is necessary to set up

check. In the next position it is the firing the discovered attack. In the diagram White
piece which checks. is marginally ahead on material (rook for
 DISCOVERED ATTACK 27

bishop pawn), but his h1-rook is under

and king. Any move by the knight will deliver
caught in a nasty
attack and his g5-knight is check by discovery from White's queen.
pin. White turned the tables by 28 xh6! However, White has to take into account the
xh6 29 e3; suddenly Black's bishop is attack on his queen from the c4-rook. The
under attack and he also faces the threat of multi-purpose discovered check 17 e4+
30 f7+ with a discovered attack against both blocks the fourth rank and prepares to
Black's queen. The result is that Black will take the bishop on d6. Black will lose his
end up at least a piece down, and he therefore queen, for example 17..f8 18 xd8+ or
resigned. This particular combination was 17...e8 18xd6+f8 19 xd8+, and he
hard to see because the line-up which is char- therefore resigned.
acteristic of a discovered attack did not exist

in the diagram, but had to be set up by the Discovered checks are so powerful that it
correct sequence of moves. is often worth a considerable sacrifice to set

one up.
If the rear piece of adiscovered attack de-
livers check, then we speak of a discovered a b C d e f
g h
check. This type of discovered attack is par- 8
B
ticularly strong because the firing piece has
7
virtually complete freedom to move where it
wants. The rear piece delivers check, which 6
the defender has to deal with. The firing
5
piece then gets another move before the de-
fender gets a chance to respond. With two 4

free moves to play with, it is not surprising

3
that quite a lot of damage can be done.
2
a b C d e f g h
1

8
W

7 Rogulj - Atlas
Zonal tournament, Dresden 1998
6

5
Black is well down on material (rook and

pawn for knight) but White's king lacks de-

fenders. Black managed to break through
3
with a brilliant combination based on sacri-
2 ficing his queen to set up a lethal discovered

1
check. The game continued 18... g8!! (at-
tacking the white queen and setting up an at-
tack against g2) 19 xe5 (White may as well
Zifroni - Manor
take the queen) 19...xg2+ 20h1 (now
Czerniak memorial,
the discovered check has been set up; Black
Bikurei Haitim/Tel Aviv 1997
would like to mate by playing his rook along
the g-file, but first he must remove the f2-

This is a typical example. White's queen pawn to prevent White from blocking the long
and knight are lined up against the enemy diagonal with f3) 20...xf2+ (this example
 28 LEARN CHESS TACTICS

demonstrates the key feature of the discov- and then White can safely play 33 xd1 be-
ered check with brutal clarity; the defender cause the double check has blocked the d-file

has to respond to the check from the rear with gain of tempo and thus left Black's
piece, so the firing piece can wreak havoс queen undefended. Notę that 32 De3+ is bad,
with impunity) 21g1 g2+ 22h1 (the because this is merely a discovered check,
king must return to the corner, allowing a and so Black can reply 32...Wxf1+, remain-
second and final discovered check) 22...g3+ ing material up in the endgame. The game ac-
and White resigned since it is mate in two tually finished 31...d3 32 d6++ e6 33
more moves. d1 1-0.

The discovered check may seem deadly There is one type of discovered attack
enough, but it is not the ultimate chess which is very easy to overlook. This involves
weapon. That accolade belongs to the double what we call pin-breaking. The following
check, special type of discovered check in
a example makes the idea clear.
which the firing piece and the rear piece both
check the enemy king simultaneously. The a b C d e f g h

key feature of the double check is that the 8

W
only legal reply is a king move. Most dou-
7
ble checks form part of a mating attack, but
the following example shows that other moti- 6
vations are possible.
5

a b C d e f g h 4

8 3
W

7
2

16 1

4
Conde Rodriguez - Munoz Palmerin
Vila de Padron 2000
3

2 This position arose after the moves 1 e4 e5

2f3 d6 3 Lc4 2g4 4 c3 c5?. Black's
1
g4-bishop is apparently pinning the white
knight on f3. Indeed, if the knight moves then
Golod Zak
Black can take White's queen. You may recall
-

Israeli Team Ch 2002

that it is sometimes possible to win material
with forking combination based on xf7+
a

Here White is a piece up, but his knight is (see page 14), but it doesn't work here since
under attack and if the knight moves then after 5 xf7+? xf7 6xe5+ dxe5 7xg4
Black can promote his pawn. White played White has lost a piece. Nevertheless, White
31 xf5!, apparently allowing the pawn to does have a way to win material based on the
advance. However, if Black plays 31...dl weakness of f7. This depends on the fact that
then White replies with the double check 32 a pin against any piece other than a king is
d6++. A double check forces a king move, not absolute; the pinned piece can still legally
 DISCOVERED ATTACK 29

move, and if it can create a strong enough Black a pawn up with a large positional ad-
threat then the pin may turn out to be a dis- vantage because the e4-pawn is very weak;
covered attack for the other side. White finally, 14 xe4 xh4 also gives Black an
now played 5xe5!. This threatens 6xf7+ extra pawn whichWhite cannot regain by 15
e7 7d5#, which is such a strong threat xd6 because then his d4-knight can be cap-
that the fact that White's queen can be taken tured. After 13...fxe4!, White did not care

Black could have played on a

is irrelevant. toplay on a pawn down with a bad position,
pawn down by 5...dxe5 6xg4 c6, but he and he immediately resigned.
decided to allow the mate: 5.. xd1 6 xf7+
e77d5#.
The use of pin-breaking to convert a pin
into a discovered attack often proves totally Discovered Attack Exercises
unexpected to the opponent, and it is surpris-
ing how often it occurs in practice. Solutions start on page 117.

In the following example, it was not a mate

threat but a threat to the enemy queen which
a b C d e f g h
allowed the pin to be broken.
8
1
b W 7
a C d e f g h

8 6
B
5
7
4
6
3
5
2

4
1

2 How did White win using a discovered at-

tack?
1

Stone - Nijboer a b C d e f g h

Den Bosch 1999 8

2
W 7

Here the knight on f6 appears pinned, but

6
Black broke the pin by 13...fxe4!. The pin
has been converted into a discovered attack, 5

with the knight attacking White's queen, and 4

the black queen attacking White's h4-bishop. 3

With so many pieces under attack, it is neces-
2
sary to calculate all the variations carefully,
but it is not too difficult: after 14xd8 xd2 1

White is not only a pawn down, but has four

pieces under attack; 14 fxe4 xh4 leaves A discovered attack wins quickly. How?
30 LEARN CHESS TACTICS

a b C d e f g h a b d e g h

8 8
3 6
B 7 B 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 & 2

Black, two pawns up, decided to grab a How did Black win with a discovered at-

third by 41...xb3. Was this a good idea? tack?

a b C d e g h a b C d e f g h

8 8
4 7
В 7 B 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 8 2

1 1

Black's rook is under attack. Does he have Here Black played 14...Дxc3 15 Дxc3
to move it? xe4, forking queen, rook and bishop. Was
this a good idea?

a b C d e f g h a b C d e f g h

8 8
5 8
7 MMle 7
W B

6 6

5 W 5

4 4

3 3

& 2 & 2

1 1

What is the simplest way for White to win? Black won with a discovered attack. How?
 DISCOVERED ATTACK 31

a b C d e f g h a b C d e f g h

8 8
9 12
W 7 W 7

の 6 6

8 5 5

& 4 4

3 3

2 2

A discovered attack decides the game. How did White set up a discovered attack
How? with a preliminary sacrifice?

a b c d e f g h a b C d e f h
g

8 8
10 13
W 7 B 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

& & 2 2

1 1

The line-up of queens on d2 and a5 sug- How did Black win material by a discov-
gests a discovered attack. Is there one here? ered attack?

a b C d e f g h a b C d e f g h

8 8
11 14
7 7
B B

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

How did Black finish the game at a stroke? In this rather complex position, how can
Black win material?
32 LEARN CHESS TACTICS

a b C d e g h a b C d e f 9 h

8 8
15 18
B 7 B 7

6 6

5 5

& 4 4

3 3

2 2

How did Black win a pawn? How did a discovered check help Black to
win?

a b C d e f g h a b C d e g h

8 8
16 19
B 7 B 7

6 6

5 3 5

8 4 4

3 3

8 2 & 2

1 1

Black's bishop is attacked. What is his best How did Black set up a decisive discov-
continuation? ered check?

a b C d e f g h a b C d e f g h

8 8
17 20
W 7 W 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

White won quickly. How? How did White win an important pawn?
 DISCOVERED ATTACK 33

b d e f h b C d e h
a C g a g

8 8
21 24
B 7 W 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

How did Black win a pawn with a discov- What is the quickest win for White?
ered attack?

a b C d e f g h a b C d e f g h

8 8
22 25
W 7 W 7

6 6

Kii
5 5

4 14

3 3

8 & 2 2

Π 1 1

How did White win a pawn? How did White win material with a sur-

prising discovered attack?

a b C d e f h a b d f h
g C e g
8 8
23 26
W 7 B 7

6 6

& 5 5

4 4

& 3 3

2 2

1 1

How did White win material by arranging Black played 26...xf7. Was this a good
a discovered attack? move?