Tactic · intermediate
Removing the Defender in chess
If a piece is the only guard of a key square, eliminate it.
touch_appSolve it yourself. A wrong move gets explained, not just marked wrong.
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What a removing the defender is
If a piece is the only guard of a key square, eliminate it.
The puzzle, solved
Remove the Defender (intermediate, White to move)add
If a piece is the only guard of a key square, eliminate it. Solution: 1.Bxf6. Bxf6! The knight was the only defender of h7. Now Qxh7# is threatened: after ...gxf6 or ...Qxf6, Qxh7 is mate. Black's best is ...g6, but then Bxd8 wins the queen.
How to spot it in your games
- Your queen and bishop both aim at h7. Which black piece stops Qxh7#?