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Defence Strategy 2:

Fortifying the piece's position

Wolverhampton Chess Club

 

You will realise by now that some pieces are more valuable than others. A Queen we know to be worth more than a Rook. We must now keep the value of these pieces in mind. We are going to have to do some simple Arithmatic.

Suppose we have several pieces on our chessboard as in this diagram. White to move.

 

White moves and ATTACKS the enemy Rook. There is another way of avoiding capture as well as by moving away. Black can move his Bishop so that it protects the square on which the Rook stands. We cannot say the Bishop attacks the Rook, because they are both the same colour. We say instead that the Bishop DEFENDS the Rook.

 

The Bishop moves to support the Rook.It is now White's move again. Can you see what would happen if the Queen captured the enemy Rook now? On his next move the Black Bishop would captue the Queen. White would have given away a (Queen worth 9 pawns) for a Rook (worth 5 Pawns). Definitely not worth it. So the Rook has been defended by the Bishop,and is quite safe.

 

Here is another example of an attacked piece being DEFENDED.

White to move.

 

White moves his Rook to ATTACK the Black Pawn.

The Black Pawn is in peril,but it can be defended by moving the Black Knight.

 

SAFE. The pawn is now safe. It is DEFENDED. The enemy Rook may now capture the Pawn if it wishes. It would not be worthwhile now because the Black Knight can then capture the White Rook. As the Rook is worth 5 Pawns, it is not worth taking the Pawn.

 

White to move.

A Black Bishop attacks one of the white Knights.

 

White moves the other Knight to defend the attacked 'Knight'.

 

It is Black's move and he decides to capture the Knight. The Knight being captured is removed from the chess board and the Black Bishop now occupies its square. Now it is White's turn to move.

 

The White Knight which defended the other White Knight, now captures the Bishop. The result White has lost a Knight (worth 3 Pawns) and Black has lost a Bishop (worth 3 Pawns). The exchange is equal.

 

Black to move.