Pointing every piece at one king

An attack is not a mood. It is a countable thing: more of your pieces aimed at the squares around one king than the defender has aimed back.

• 4 motifs
• 480 positions
• Section Attacking

The reason attacks fail at club level is almost never that the idea was wrong. It is that the attack was launched with two pieces because it felt like the moment, and the defender had three. Counting attackers and defenders on the squares that matter is unglamorous and it is most of the skill.

The positions in this section come from games where the count had already been won. What they train is the second half: given that the pieces are there, finding the move that converts.

Every motif in Attacking

• Kingside AttackAttacking the castled king
• Queenside AttackThe slower, deadlier wing
• Middlegame MixedEvery tactic, unlabelled
• Mating AttacksAttacks that finish

Other sections

• First MovesMate in one, free pieces
• TacticsForks, pins, skewers, traps
• Checkmate PatternsBack rank, smothered, mate in two
• Sharper TacticsDiscovered attacks, deflection, x-ray
• Sacrifices and Quiet MovesSacrifices, zwischenzug, zugzwang
• EndgamesPawn, rook, queen, minor piece
• OpeningsTactics from real openings
• Blind SpotsNo hint, and the rule nobody sees
• The Ladder1200 to 2400, four rungs
• Open Games1.e4 e5, and the argument over f7
• Ruy Lopez LinesMorphy, Exchange, Berlin
• Sicilian SystemsAnti-Sicilians and main lines
• French VariationsAdvance, Exchange, Tarrasch, Winawer
• Caro-Kann VariationsExchange, Advance, Classical
• Sidelines and SurprisesGambits that should not work