Discovered attack — Chess Puzzles

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A discovered attack is made by moving one piece out of the way so that a piece behind it attacks something. Two things happen in one move: the piece that moved makes its own threat, and the piece that was hidden makes another. The defender can usually answer only one of them.

How to spot it

• One of your pieces stands directly in front of your own rook, bishop or queen, on the line it wants to use.
• The line, once opened, hits the enemy king or something valuable.
• The piece that steps aside can make a threat of its own — a capture, a check, an attack on the queen.
• The strongest version is a discovered check: the opponent has to answer the check and cannot save the other target.

A worked example

White: king d3, rook g5, pawn f5. Black: king e5, rook a5, pawn b4. White to move.

1. The pawn on f5 stands between White's rook on g5 and the black king on e5. Moving it anywhere opens that line.
2. f6 is check — not from the pawn, but from the rook behind it. Black has to answer the check and has no time for the rook on a5.
3. Kxf6 wins the pawn back, and Rxa5 then wins a whole rook.

The idea Two threats in one move, made by two different pieces. The piece that moves is not the one doing the damage, which is exactly why the defender looks straight past it.