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  • Lesson 25 of 32
  • More tactics
  • 3 min

Removing the Defender in Chess: Take the Guard

Some pieces are safe only because another piece guards them. Take the guard away, and whatever it guarded is left hanging. That is called removing the defender.

Step 1 of 4

  1. The guard

    Your rook on d1 attacks the black bishop on d5, but the knight on f6 guards it: take the bishop, and the knight takes your rook. Your bishop on g5, though, attacks that knight. The knight is the defender, and you can remove it.

  2. What wins material?

    Which plan wins material here?

    Question

  3. Take the guard

    Now play it. Take the knight with your bishop, and when Black takes back with the g-pawn, the bishop on d5 has no guard left.

    Your move

    Remove the defender, then win the bishop.

  4. Remove the guard of a mate

    Your queen on h4 and your bishop on d3 both aim at h7. Qxh7 would be mate, but h7 is guarded. Deal with that first.

    Your move

    Remove the defender, then checkmate.

What you learned

  • A piece that is only safe because of one guard can be won by taking the guard.
  • Count the guards before you capture: Rxd5 at once would have lost the rook.
  • The guard can be guarding a mate square, and removing it can win the game.

In this course

Unit 1The pieces

  1. The Chessboard and How to Set Up the Pieces
  2. How the Rook Moves in Chess
  3. How the Bishop Moves in Chess
  4. How the Queen Moves in Chess
  5. How the King Moves in Chess
  6. How the Knight Moves in Chess
  7. How Pawns Move and Capture in Chess
  8. Chess Piece Values: What Each Piece Is Worth

Unit 2Special moves

  1. What Is Check in Chess, and How to Get Out of It
  2. How to Castle in Chess: Kingside and Queenside
  3. En Passant in Chess, Explained on the Board
  4. Pawn Promotion in Chess: Turning a Pawn Into a Queen

Unit 3Winning the game

  1. What Is Checkmate? Learn to Mate in One
  2. Stalemate in Chess: Why It's a Draw
  3. How to Checkmate With a King and Queen

Unit 4Your first tactics

  1. The Fork: Attack Two Pieces at Once
  2. The Pin in Chess: Freeze a Piece in Place
  3. The Skewer in Chess: Attack Through a Piece

Unit 5Checkmate patterns

  1. Back-Rank Mate in Chess: Spot It and Stop It
  2. Smothered Mate in Chess: The Knight's Checkmate
  3. The Ladder Mate: Checkmate With Two Rooks
  4. How to Checkmate With a King and Rook

Unit 6More tactics

  1. Discovered Attack in Chess: Unmask a Hidden Attacker
  2. Double Check in Chess: Two Checks at Once
  3. Removing the Defender in Chess: Take the Guard

Unit 7Opening principles

  1. Control the Centre: A Chess Opening Principle
  2. How to Develop Your Pieces in the Chess Opening
  3. Scholar's Mate: How It Works and How to Stop It
  4. Fool's Mate: The Fastest Checkmate in Chess

Unit 8Endgame basics

  1. The Rule of the Square in Chess Endgames
  2. The Opposition in Chess: King Endgame Basics
  3. King and Pawn vs King: How to Win the Ending

Lessons for every game

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