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Ponderchess / Glossary

Deflection in chess

Deflection is a tactic that forces an enemy piece away from a square, line or piece it is guarding. Usually it is a check, capture or sacrifice that the defender must answer, and once that piece has moved, the job it was doing collapses.

White to move. White threatens Qg7 mate, and only the black queen, guarding g7 along the seventh rank, stops it. Rd8+ deflects her. The king cannot escape, because f7 is covered by the e6 pawn and f8 and h8 by the rook, so Black must play Qxd8. The queen has left the seventh rank, and Qg7 is checkmate.1.Rd8+ Qxd8 2.Qg7#

How deflection works

Every defender has a job: guarding a square, protecting a piece or holding a line. Deflection gives that defender a reason it cannot refuse to go somewhere else. The most forcing way is a check or a capture that only the defender can answer, often with a sacrifice.

Typical deflections

A rook or queen guarding the back rank is pulled away so that a mate on the eighth rank works. A queen guarding a mating square near the king is forced to capture elsewhere. A pawn guarding a key square, such as a g7 pawn covering f6 and h6, is drawn off by a sacrifice so that a piece can land there.

Deflection also wins material without mate. If a piece is protected only by one defender, a check that forces that defender to capture leaves the piece hanging.

Deflection, decoy and overloading

These ideas overlap, and one combination can fit more than one name. Deflection pulls a piece away from where it is needed. A decoy lures a piece onto a particular square where it can be exploited. Overloading describes a defender with too many jobs, which is often what makes a deflection possible.

How to find deflections

List what each enemy defender is doing, then ask what would happen if it were not there. If the answer is mate or a clear gain, look for a forcing move, usually a check or a capture, that drags it away.

Common mistakes

  • Attacking the defender with a move it can ignore, instead of a check or capture it must answer.
  • Forgetting that the deflected piece may have a second job, or that another piece can take over its duty.

Questions about deflection

What is the difference between deflection and decoy?

Deflection forces a piece away from a square or duty. A decoy lures a piece onto a specific square. Many sacrifices do both.

Is deflection the same as removing the defender?

They are close relatives. Removing the defender usually means capturing it; deflection means forcing it to move away while it stays on the board.

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