Finding miracle tactics even in check!

Scroll through any puzzle trainer and you’ll find endless ways to sacrifice your queen, but there are very few exercises that teach you how to fight back when you’re the one under fire. That is a shame but the absence of defensive puzzles probably reflects how we like to learn: Attacking is glamorous, while defence is work. However many times we can flip or win games precisely when we are under pressure, because we are able to find resources that others overlook. This is exactly what we study in this article.

The theme I investigate in this article is Defensive Lures. We are exploring very creative ways to break the opponents attacking momentum with unexpected counter play coming out of a check. Therefore all the examples in this article share one unusual theme: We are in check and only one move wins! Your task is to look beyond the "automatic" moves and find the unexpected win.

When many players face a check, they narrow their focus only to safely responding it. The tactical vision shuts down at the very moment it should be most alive. My aim with this lesson (as with all my articles) is to keep your tactical radars on high alert in these situations, because there might be surprising resources even when we are faced with check. You will start seeing chances that others miss by habit. This can be seen from the introductory example from my own game:

Introductory Example: White to move and win. Black is up an exchange. Our only trump is our advanced e7 pawn but Black can easily stop it with Re1 after the check with a winning endgame. Therefore:

This exemplifies the theme of defensive luring, which can done even when we are in check. Well done if you found the move 1.Nd1+!! Even in check, we keep our tactical radar switched on, luring Blacks rook to the worst square to fight against our advanced pawn. Even though we are restricted to responding to the check does not mean we cannot counterattack while responding!

This article is a sequel to my previous articles X-Ray Defence: Hidden Resource, Sudden Lifeline (where we explored more miracle saves from the defenders side) and The Art of Interference(using creative geometry to surprise your opponents). In this article we combine these elements and push further. Here we find surprising counterattacking resources that win the game using the below 5 examples.

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Position 1: Before recapturing on g7, Black throws in a check to activate their Queen. There are many ways to respond to this but one surprising way to win immediately. White to play and win:

Blocking the check with the seemingly senseless 1.Bc4!! creates a powerful counterthreat against Blacks Queen (while there is still a checkmate threat on h6). Although Black can take Bc4 with check, the Queen is lured on to a mined square, as after the follow-up 2.b3 there are threats against Blacks King and Queen. It is very easy to dismiss such a move a 1.Bc4 so it shows how important it is to be tactically alert even when we are in check.

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Position 2: White is in check and Black is ready to take on f7. It doesn’t seem like there is much White can do, but there is a very surprising resource if we stay alert. White to play and win.

White beautifully interferes with Blacks plans with 1.Re4!! which can even be taken in two ways, however now there is no way for Black to stop promotion. Very unexpected considering White was the one in check one move ago. You might have found this move more easily because of the previous examples and knowing the theme, but that is not flaw. This is exactly the power of pattern recognition. If you drill the examples from this article down you will also be equipped to look for this types of creative counterstrikes in your own games.

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Position 3: White has mate in 1 on the board but is in check. White has many options but all of them lose expect for one move which wins very unexpectedly.

Any king move (or Nb2 blocking) is losing as Black breaks through with a barrage of checks. However 1.Rb3 is an amazing defensive lure as Blacks Queen is forced on to b3, from where it can not give any more meaningful checks while Whites Qg7# is not stoppable. We look at more constellations and angles where these types of moves are possible.

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Position 4: White is about to collect Blacks advanced b3 pawn with Rb2 unless we find a quick counterattack, but we are in check. Black to play and win.

This example is actually similar to Position 1, but its good to see the motif from different positions and angles. We are able to lure the attacker on to a dangerous square and counterattack, completely shifting the momentum and winning. Of course these patterns will not show up in every game, but just knowing to look for these ideas builds your creativity and means you have gained another weapon in your tactical arsenal.
The final position is an example of a winning move that seems completely bizarre, yet makes perfect sense based on what we’ve seen so far:

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Position 5: White has the Black King in a mating net and threatens Rh7#. But if Black can escape this (parrying with Rg7 after the check), their material advantage will be decisive. Therefore White only has one move to win. White to play and win:

After all these examples demonstrating the exact motif I hope you evaluated the creative 1.Rc3!!, offering Black the rook with check! However it is important to understand why this bizarre looking move is the only winning one. Any (natural) side step with the King allows the Black rook in time to defend mate with Rg7. So even though our kamikaze Rc3 can be immediately taken (and with check!), it successfully lures Black rook away from its defensive task. Furthermore if Black does retreat to g7, our kamikaze rook now immediately counterattacks with 2.Rxh3, again swiftly delivering mate.

Concluding thoughts: If you can find tactics here, you can find them anywhere

Hopefully this article has pushed you to think beyond merely surviving checks, because there are many hidden and unexpected resources we mustn’t overlook. These puzzles were deliberately chosen from positions where most players would already give up on tactical ambition. I hope you enjoyed these rare and unusual puzzles, I think the winning moves are satisfying to find. If you enjoyed solving them, I encourage you to revisit my earlier piece on X-Ray Defence: Hidden Resource, Sudden Lifeline, which contains more training material from the defender’s side, as well as The Art of Interference and The Elegant Crosspin where creative geometric motifs often overlap with the lures we have studied here. Until then just remember that even if your opponent delivers the check, you can still deliver the tactic.

I hope you have enjoyed this article! You’ll find many more like it on www.chessinprogress.com, where this piece is part of my ongoing project to write 100 tactical and strategic lessons for the ambitious player. Its just about sharing chess lessons. Everything there is open-access. It's just pure chess lessons, shared for the love of the game. Hope to see you there!