Defense in chess

Defense: what is it

Defense is the skill of neutralizing the opponent's threats without losing material or time. Good defense often needs calculation as precise as in an attack, and sometimes even more subtle.

The main ways to defend: capture the threatening piece, block the attack, move away the attacked piece or create a counter-threat that the opponent has to respond to.

Ways to defend

  • Moving the piece to a safe square: the simplest way, but not always possible.
  • Blocking: putting your piece between the attacking piece and its target.
  • Capturing the attacking piece, if you can do it without losses or with a gain.
  • Bringing a defender: increasing the number of your pieces that protect the threatened square.
  • Counterattack: creating your own threat of the same or greater strength.
  • "Luft" for the king: pushing a pawn in advance to rule out a back rank mate.

Principles of defense

  1. Do not panic: even a strong attack often has a precise defense if you calmly calculate the variations.
  2. First check all checks and threats: understanding exactly what is threatened is half of the defense.
  3. Look for the move that gives up the least: moving a piece away with tempo or counterattacking is better than simple passive defense.
  4. Sacrifice material to save the king, but only if your calculation shows that otherwise it is mate.
Important: in defense it is especially dangerous to make an "instinctive" move. The attacker is usually prepared and has already calculated the variations. Take your time and calculate precisely.

Tips to defend better

For kids

When your opponent makes a threat, first ask yourself: "What do they want to do with their next move?" If it is checkmate, you must stop it right away. If it is capturing a piece, you can move it away, protect it or take the attacker.

And always make "luft" for your king, so you do not get mated on the back rank.

For adults

The strongest defense is a counterattack: while the opponent is preparing to strike, you create your own threat. This forces them to spend a tempo on defense.

In complicated positions it helps to simplify the game with trades: the fewer pieces the opponent has, the harder it is for them to keep the attack going.

Examples

Try it yourself: make a move on the board. If you get stuck, press "Show solution".

1. Blocking a check: the bishop saves the king

Idea: the black rook has just played Re1+, a check along the first rank. There are only three ways to meet a check: move the king, block, or capture. The king has nowhere to go, and there is nothing to capture the rook with.

1.Bf1 - the bishop blocks the check. On 1...Rxf1+ White replies 2.Kxf1: Black has given up a rook for a bishop, so White has won the exchange.

Solution: 1.Bf1 - the only defense: the bishop blocks the check to the king. Taking on f1 is bad for Black: after 1...Rxf1+ 2.Kxf1 they give up a rook for a bishop.

2. Making "luft": preventing a back rank mate

Idea: the black rook on e8 threatens Re1#, mate on the first rank. The king on g1 is locked in by the pawns on f2, g2, h2.

1.h3 - a quiet but important move. The king gets the h2 square to escape to, and the threat of mate on the first rank is gone.

Solution: White has made "luft" for the king: after the rook check it steps away, and there is no more mate on the first rank. A quiet but important move.

3. Counterattack: saved by a check

Idea: the black queen on a4 threatens the deadly 1...Qxd1#, capturing the queen with mate on the first rank. The white king has no "luft", and there is no passive defense: on 1.Qxa4 comes 1...Nxa4, and Black is a rook and a knight up.

1.Qxd8+! - White takes the rook and attacks the back rank themselves. The only move 1...Qe8 loses to 2.Qxe8#. The counterattack came one tempo ahead of the threat: the best defense is often attack.

Solution: 2.Qxe8# - mate: the black king is locked in by its own pawns. The counterattack came one tempo ahead of the threat.