Elementary Tactics (part 1)
There are two kinds of elementary attacks. One when a single man attacks two or more hostile men at the same time. The other when more men are brought up to attack an opposing man than can be brought up for defense. The beginner makes attacks with the sole purpose of driving away a hostile piece. In most cases, these attempts will be pointless because they generally allow the attacked piece to move to another square just as or perhaps more favorable. The advantage of attacking two men at once is evident in that only one of them can probably be saved. The advantage of bringing up more men for attack than can be gathered for defense is also apparent, but is more difficult to carry out. Using both methods of attack in conjunction is the secret of the successful cooperation of the men.
In the following diagrams, simple illustrations are shown of elementary cases of such attacks. These positions often occur in games of beginners because they usually place the men on unfavorable squares. By studying these diagrams, the eye of the beginner will become accustomed to dangerous formations of the pieces and he will be able to foresee similar threats in his games. This is especially true of the mating positions which are discussed below in connection with attacks instituted by the Queen in the middle of the game. It is these attacks to which the beginner at an early stage of the game falls victim in ninety out of a hundred cases when playing against an experienced opponent.
In the above position, White wins the exchange and practically the game by playing 1. N-d5. He attacks the Queen and at the same time the pawn on c7. Black, in order not to lose the Queen, must move her, but he cannot move her so that she will protect the pawn c7. On the next move White will take the pawn calling check and at the same time attacking the Rook on a8. The King must move and the Knight will take the Rook.
Quite frequently, a similar attack with the Knight is likely to win the Queen if the opponent is not familiar with situations of that kind. In the following diagram, if White plays 1. N-d5, Black must protect the pawn on c7 by Q-d8 or Q-d6, but not by Q-c6. If he moved the Queen to c6, White would continue with:
2. B-b5 Qxb5
3. Nxc7+ -
4. Nxb5
Sometimes two pieces are involved in the double attack, the line of one of the pieces being discovered by the other. The position in the following diagram could be brought about by the following moves:
1. e4 d5
2. exd5 Qxd5
3. N-c3 Q-a5
4. d4 N-f6
5. B-c4 e6
6. B-d2
White threatens to play 7. N-d5, uncovering the Bishop at d2 on Black's Queen and at the same time attacking the pawn on c7, which Black cannot keep protected. Threats of this kind more frequently occur in connection with a discovered Check. As an example the following opening will serve:
1. e4 e5
2. N-f3 N-f6
3. Nxe5 Nxe4
4. Q-e2 N-f6
Black's last move exposes his King to a discovered check, and White wins the Queen by playing 5. N-c6+.
Next to the Knight, the Queen is most frequently in a position to carry out a double attack. After the opening moves:
1. e4 e5
2. f4 B-C5
3. fxe5??
the position of the following diagram is reached, in which Black wins a Rook by Q-h4+. White cannot reply 4. K-e2 because Qxe4 is mate. His only move is 4. g3. Then follows Qxe4 attacking both the King and Rook simultaneously.
This opening offers another opportunity to demonstrate the dangerous mobility of the Queen. Instead of 3. fxe5, White should have played 3. N-f3. The game could then have continued as follows:
3. ... d6
4. B-c4 N-f6
5. fxe5, dxe5
Again White cannot win the pawn on e5 because 6. Nxe5 would be answered by Q-d4, attacking the Knight and Bishop and threatening mate on f2.
The above position shows a typical case of a double threat with the Queen in conjunction with other pieces. White on the move plays B-d3, and now Black can not castle because White would continue with Q-e4 threatening mate through Qxh7 and at the same time attacking the Bishop on e7 for the second time who is only once protected. Black would have to defend the mate by either g6 or f5 or Q-h5 and White would capture the Bishop. When castling on the King side a player must always beware of an attack by the Queen and another piece on the King's Rook's pawn.
In the case illustrated above, it was the Bishop who assisted the Queen. A Knight could aid in an attack on h7 from either g5 or f6. More frequently he does so from g5 as usually the square f6 is not accessible to him on account of the pawn on g7 protecting it. In the majority of cases, the Knight goes to g5 from f3, and the Queen attacks h7 from h5, coming from her original square d1. Then, if Black cannot protect h7 by a Knight from f6 or by the Bishop, from f5 for instance, or from g6, the only protection as a rule is to advance the pawn to h6. The following diagram may serve as an example.
Black's last move was N-e7, while N-f6, which protects the pawn h7 against future attacks, is generally preferable in any opening. White can now play N-g5, attacking the pawn on f7 for the second time, as it is already attacked by the Bishop on c4. The student will, at this stage of his development, not yet know why Black should be so anxious to defend the pawn at f7, considering that he is a pawn ahead so that the loss of a pawn would only equalize the forces but would not give White a material advantage. However, later on, when discussing the strategy of the opening, it will become evident that in the position of the diagram, Black must, under all circumstances, defend the pawn on f7 as otherwise his game would soon become hopeless because of the exposed position of his King.
There are only two ways for Black to defend f7. One is to advance the Queen's pawn to d5, interrupting the diagonal of White's Bishop. The other is to castle, so that the Rook also protects the pawn at f7. It would then not be good for White to capture the pawn because he would have to give up Knight and Bishop for Rook and one pawn, which is not a sufficient equivalent.
Of the two ways indicated only the first one is feasible. For if Black castles he gives White an opportunity to institute an attack on the weak pawn at h7 with Knight and Queen against which Black has no satisfactory defense. Play would develop as follows:
1. N-g5 o-o
2. Q-h5 h6
This is the only defense against the threat Qxh7 mate. But White's Queen's move involved a double threat. It brought up a third attack on the pawn f7, and the latter now falls, forcing Black to give up some more material.
3. Nxf7 Rxf7
Black has to sacrifice the exchange. If he moved the Queen, which is attacked by the Knight, he would expose his King to a deadly double check:
4. Nxh6+ K-h8 or h7
5. N-f7+ K-g8
6. Q-h8#
After giving up his Rook for the Knight on the third move, Black has a lost game because White can simply exchange all pieces and force the win in the ending with his superior material.
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