Deflection Deflection on the Wall (The Decoy Part 2)

To deflect or not to deflect, that is the question.  By Ms Jessica Martin (aka BoundingOwl)

This is part 2 of the Decoy article.  If you have not done so, go back and read part 1 first please!

To genuflect means to bow.

To inflect means to change your voice.

To deflect means to turn away.

To effect a deflection, you must erect a deception!  Can you detect a decoy exception?

                                    

Deflections in chess are sneaky.  Decoys and deflections are ways to distract pieces (and your opponent) into thinking they are doing something good, like winning a piece.  But they are the sneakiest tactic, because actually the piece isn't free at all.  You had a trick up your sleeve all along!

In the following example, the knight on f6 will be deflected from guarding h7.  While it's on f6, the knight is on its happy square.  We will make it turn away from protecting the king.  Look carefully:

 

  

Decoys require a combination of ideas.  Look back at the previous articles so you are a great master at basic tactical ideas.  You can always get better at tactics---these tricks happen in EVERY game of chess.  If you can find more tactics than your opponent, you will win!

Try this one.  Your goal is to promote your pawn, but you notice that the rook is stopping that plan for now.  What to do?

 

 

Once the white rook is pinned, it either stays and gets captured, or takes the rook and is deflected from guarding your dangerous passed-almost-queening pawn.  Voila!

If it looks free, ask yourself if it's a trick.  People don't always give you pieces for free...(ok, sometimes they do, but not *always*).

Here's one of my favourite crazy puzzles:

 

 

You want to promote your pawn, but it is pinned (an absolute pin).  So you have to make a crazy sacrifice:  a double attack decoy!  It's check, which is very forcing, so black will probably take your queen (or you take his/hers) and now that the queen is lured to a different square, your pawn is UNpinned!  You can play g8 and make yourself a pretty new queenie.  Guess what tactic you just created?!  A skewer!

How would you finish off this game?  Do you remember how to win using the queen dance?

                           

One final decoy for you. It is a mate in two.

 

 

Lure the king where you want him; don't let him get away!  Decoys are fun: you get to practice being mean and sneaky...over the chessboard, that is!  Not in real life thank you very much!

See you next week my sneaky friends!