Top 10 Best Chess Tactics
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Skewer
A skewer is an awesome tactic of attacking two pieces with a long-range piece, with the more important piece (usually a king) in the front, forcing it to move so the other piece in the back is taken.
An example would be when a bishop checks a king with a queen behind it on the same diagonal. The side that is skewered is forced to move the king and loses the queen.
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Fork
This tactic is used by any piece, but most commonly by the knight and queen. The piece attacks two usually undefended pieces and will usually win one, especially if the king is checked at the same time.
Knights especially are annoying with this. If you get hit by a fork, you're basically losing something no matter what.
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Double Check
This is a great check using a long-range piece in a discovered attack while another piece also checks at the same time.
It's really powerful because the king that is checked has to actually move.
I use the double-check tactic when I have two queens, two to four pawns, and one rook.
It is very easy to use. Even if it doesn't work, it does get you excited to win!
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Zwischenzug
This is an interesting tactic that involves ignoring a threat to a certain piece or square to threaten something of value to the opponent.
It's similar to the saying that the best defense is a good attack.
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Battery
This tactic involves using two or three long-range pieces backing up on a rank, file, or diagonal.
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Pin
This is used to get two pieces on a rank, file, or diagonal, so that the more important piece in the back is the main target. It makes the less important piece problematic, as if it moves, the back piece is attacked.
An absolute pin happens if the king is in the back, because then the piece cannot move, as the king would be in check.
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Discovered Attack
A piece moves out of the way from a long-range piece's view to attack what's behind it, sometimes threatening something else.
It is often a discovered check with the king behind it, or perhaps it can even be a discovered defense if necessary.
This one feels unfair when it happens to you.
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Desperado
This tactic is a sacrificial one in which a piece that will be captured basically will take whatever it can with it.
It's a surprising tactic to fall victim to.
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Deflection
This is usually a threat to an overloaded piece (one that has too much to handle) which removes its defense of something else.
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Interference
Two pieces are working together by defending each other (say, two rooks), but another piece gets in the way.
The side that doesn't have the interference obviously uses this to their advantage to win material.
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Decoy
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Overloading
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Windmill
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Sacrifice
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Zugzwang