Most tactics are missed, not miscalculated. Before choosing a move, list every check, every capture and every threat, for you and for your opponent. This lesson builds that habit on Légal’s mate, a smothered mate and a quiet move that wins a piece.
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Strong players do not see more tactics because they are cleverer. They look in a fixed order: checks, then captures, then threats, for both sides. This lesson drills that order on three old patterns, starting with a trap that is more than two hundred years old.
What you will learn
01Why forcing moves come first: they limit the opponent’s replies and can be calculated to the end.
02How Légal’s mate punishes a pin that only looks real.
03Why the defender runs the same list before taking material.
04How a quiet move with two threats can win more than any capture.
Four positions, one checklist
Section one is the Philidor-style opening where the bishop on g4 pins the knight on f3 and the capture on e5 looks like it drops the queen on d1. Section two shows why it does not: Bxf7+ and the knight from c3 to d5 mate the king on e7 with three minor pieces. Section three turns the board to Black, who should take back on e5 with the d6 pawn and lose only a pawn. Section four is the queen on h5 and bishop on c4 aiming at f7, a threat Black has to name before making any other plan.
The club mistake is to stop the search at the first capture that loses material. The capture on e5 drops the queen and is still the best move, because a check follows. Run the list to the end, then check your opponent’s list.
How to practise it
Three quiz positions follow the sections, one for each word in the title: a capture that ignores a pin, a check that starts a smothered mate, and a quiet queen move with two threats. Answer each with one move, by voice or by tap. This is a Pro lesson.
What does checks, captures, threats mean in chess?
It is the order in which to look for candidate moves. Forcing moves come first because the opponent has few replies, so they can be calculated with confidence.
What is Légal’s mate?
A trap in which White ignores a pin, lets Black take the queen, and mates with a bishop and two knights. It is attributed to Légal de Kermeur, an eighteenth-century French player.