How a decoy works
Many tactics need the enemy pieces on specific squares. A knight fork needs the king and queen a knight's jump from one square; a skewer needs them on one line. A decoy creates that arrangement by force, usually by offering material on the square where the target should go, so that capturing it puts the piece where you want it.
Common decoy patterns
The king is decoyed into a knight fork, as in the example below, or onto a square where a discovered check or skewer follows. The queen is decoyed onto a square where she can be forked or pinned against the king.
Decoys also set up mates. In Philidor's smothered mate pattern the queen sacrifice on g8 decoys the black rook onto g8, where it blocks the king's last flight square, and the knight then mates on f7.
Decoy and deflection
A decoy pulls a piece to a square; a deflection pulls a piece away from one. A single sacrifice can do both, which is why the two names are often used for the same combination.
How to find decoys
Work backwards from the tactic you want. Ask which square the enemy king or queen would need to stand on for a fork, pin or mate to work, then look for a check or capture that forces it there. The decoy is usually a check that can only be answered by capturing.
Common mistakes
- Sacrificing to decoy a piece without checking that the follow-up really works on the new square.
- Offering a decoy the opponent can decline, instead of a check or capture they must accept.
Questions about decoy
What is a decoy sacrifice in chess?
A sacrifice made so that the capturing piece lands on a square where it can be attacked, forked, pinned or mated.
Which piece is decoyed most often?
The king, because a check can force it to capture, and because a king on the wrong square is open to forks and mates.
Practise it
- Decoy puzzles from real games, with solutions