Master Preparation: Tactical Themes

A sharp tactical ability is crucial to strong chess play. To strengthen your tactical abilities, solve tactical exercises from typical positions (not from contrived puzzles). The following list of tactical themes may help you organize your thoughts.

Double Attack

  1. fork
  2. skewer
  3. X-ray
  4. discovered attack (including discovered check)
  5. pin (including cross-pin and counter pin)
  6. other double attacks

Exploiting Inadequate Defense

  1. capture
  2. overloading
  3. annihilation of defense
  4. deflection
  5. decoy
  6. exchange
  7. agi (the last fight of a dying piece)

Space

  1. restriction
  2. blockade
  3. interception (including line closing; sometimes called interference)
  4. clearing (of squares and lines, including teleportation)
  5. back rank
  6. corners

Timing

  1. forcing move (including check)
  2. zwichenzug (inbetween move-including desperato, a zwichenzug with agi)
  3. perpetual attack (including perpetual check)
  4. zugzwang (literally forced move-refers to situations where every move makes the situation worse)
  5. triangulation

Pawns

  1. advanced pawn
  2. passed pawn
  3. promotion (including underpromotion)
  4. pawn breakthrough
  5. demolition of pawn structure

Attack on King

  1. check
  2. checkmate
  3. stalemate
  4. pursuit
  5. thematic mates against a castled King (organized by types of weaknesses to the castled position caused by missing and/or moved pawns).

Finishing

  1. encirclement (including checkmate)
  2. infiltration
  3. amplification of material and space advantages
  4. conversion of advantages (including sacrifice)