Cactus Ranch Chess Club

1. Cactus Ranch Chess Club

2. Agenda • Chess tactics • Removing the Defender • Checkmate puzzles • Playing games

3. 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h Removing Defender • Defender refers to a piece that protects another piece (or a square) • Removing the Defender leaves the piece (or a square) it was defending vulnerable to capture (or attack) • In this example, black Knight on d6 is defending b7 pawn. Without this black Knight, white Queen could capture b7 pawn to checkmate. • White can remove the Defender (black Knight on d6) of b7 pawn by playing white Knight to f5 (Nf5) to fork black Queen and black Knight. • If black responds by capturing white Knight with black Knight (Nxf5), then white would checkmate with Queen capturing b7 pawn (Qxb7#). If black responds by running black Queen away, then white would remove the Defender by capturing black Knight on d6 with white Knight (Nxd6+), and then do the same checkmate with Queen (Qxb7#).

4. 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h Removing Defender • In this example, white Knight on b3 is defending a1 square. Without this white Knight, black can move Rook to a1 square (Ra1+) to check and creates a power skewer to capture white Queen on h1. • Black can remove the Defender (white Knight on b3) of a1 square by capturing it with the black Queen (Qxb3). • If white responds by capturing the black Queen with white Rook (Rxb3), then black moves Rook to a1 square (Ra1+) to check and creates a powerful skewer to capture white Queen back. If white responds by not capturing the black Queen, then black just gains the white Knight for free. • This is a fantastic sacrifice of black Queen to gain a Knight.

5. 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h Removing Defender • In this example, white Knight on f3 is defending d4 square. Without this white Knight, black can move Bishop to d4 square (Bd4+) to check and creates a power fork to capture white Rook on a7. • Black can remove the Defender (white Knight on f3) of d4 square by capturing it with the black Rook (Rxf3). • If white responds by capturing the black Rook with pawn (gxf3), then black moves Bishop to d4 square (Bd4+) to check and creates a powerful fork to capture white Rook back. If white responds by not capturing the black Rook, then black just gains the white Knight for free. • This is a fantastic sacrifice of black Rook to gain a Knight.