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Learn · Tactics

The eight tactics that win games

Most games below master level are decided by a tactic. Learn these patterns and you will spot them for yourself, and avoid walking into them.

11 min readUpdated October 2026

A tactic is a short, forcing sequence that wins material or delivers mate. The trick is not calculation, it is recognition: once you have seen a pattern a few times, it jumps off the board. Click any diagram to open it in the analyser and test the idea yourself.

1. The fork

One piece attacks two targets at once. Your opponent can only save one. Knights are the champions of the fork because their attack is hard to see coming.

Knight forkNc7+ attacks the king and the rook on a8 at the same time. Black must move the king, and White takes the rook.
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2. The pin

A piece cannot move because it would expose a more valuable piece behind it. If that piece is the king, the pin is absolute and moving is illegal.

Absolute pinThe bishop on b5 pins the knight on c6 to the black king. The knight is frozen: it cannot move without exposing the king, so White can now gang up on it.
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3. The skewer

A reverse pin: the more valuable piece is in front. When it moves out of the way, the piece behind is captured.

SkewerRa5+ checks the king along the fifth rank. When the king steps aside, Rxh5 wins the queen.
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4. The discovered attack

One piece moves out of the way and uncovers an attack by the piece behind it. The moving piece is free to make its own threat, so you get two attacks for one move.

Discovered attackBxh7+ takes a pawn with check and uncovers the rook on e1 against the queen on e8. After Kxh7, Rxe8 wins the queen.
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5. Double check

The strongest kind of discovered attack: both pieces give check. A double check cannot be blocked or answered with a capture, so the king must move.

Double checkNf6+ checks with the knight and uncovers the rook on the e-file. Two checks at once: the king has to walk.
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6. Removing the defender

If one piece is holding everything together, capture it, chase it, or lure it away. Then whatever it was guarding falls.

Removing the defenderWhite's queen and knight both hit h7, but the knight on f6 and the king defend it. Bxf6 removes the defender. If Black recaptures, Qxh7 is checkmate. If not, the bishop takes the queen on d8.
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7. Back-rank mate

A king behind an unmoved row of pawns has no escape square. A rook or queen on the back rank is then checkmate. Make luft (an escape square, often with h3 or ...h6) when you have time.

Back-rank mateRa8 is checkmate. The pawns on f7, g7 and h7 that should protect the king are what trap it.
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8. Smothered mate

A knight checkmates a king that is completely surrounded by its own pieces.

Smothered mateNf7 is checkmate. The rook on g8 and pawns on g7 and h7 leave the black king no room, and nothing can capture the knight.
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How to get better at tactics

  • Do puzzles every day. Ten to twenty minutes of easy-to-medium puzzles beats an hour of very hard ones. Lichess Puzzles and Chess.com Puzzles are excellent.
  • Check, capture, threat. Before every move, look at every check, every capture and every threat for both sides. It is the single best habit in chess.
  • Review your losses with the game review. Most blunders are missed tactics; the review shows you exactly which one.