In Chess, attacking (or offense) and defense are two indispensable aspects of chess. An efficient player must know how to employ both these aspects effectively. However, that is easier said than done.
So what is attacking in chess? To explain it simply, when you strike your opponent’s pieces with your own, or threaten to create some sort of disruption in your opponent’s position, it can be deemed as an attack.
Though it may seem like an easy concept, attacking in chess is quite complex. One must analyze various facets and possibilities before deciding whether or not to go ahead with their chosen line of offense. Thus, knowing how to attack in chess is a must for every chess player who aims to level up.
Though complex in nature, if you strive to learn the concept of ‘how to attack in chess’ in a stepwise manner, you can surely improve your skills. Are you then wondering where to get started with this learning process?
This article is the perfect place for you to figure that out! Read on to know more.
Importance of Attacking (The Right Way)
In the process of preparing and unleashing an attack on your opponent, strategic planning and weighing the odds is extremely necessary. Sometimes, certain attacks require us to focus only on one area of the board while the opponent can further strengthen their control over the other parts of the board. Other times, we may be required to make some piece sacrifices or exchange an important piece of ours to gain momentum and attack further.
If such circumstances aren’t carefully thought about beforehand, it is very easy for the plan to backfire and the attack to fail. Hence, learning the correct way to attack in chess is crucial to increase the chances of the successful execution of the plan.
Upon knowing this, it is quite natural to think about whether there are any rules or principles that guide attacking in chess. There sure are! Read the next segment of this article to learn about certain basic yet effective rules about the concept.
Principles of Attacking in Chess
The successful accomplishment of any task is facilitated by certain guidelines or basic rules which help streamline the process. Knowing these principles of attacking in chess can serve the same purpose and help us keep some important points in mind. Let’s take a look at some of the main ones –
1. Bring in as many pieces as possible
The simple logic to this principle is that the more pieces you have around the attacking zone, better the chance of bringing in reinforcements to strengthen the attack. Strategically placing such pieces so that they can be brought into action without delay is an essential step in planning for the attack.
More number of pieces also means that it gets increasingly difficult for your opponent to manage all of their threats effectively.
2. Don’t be under-prepared
The greatest disservice you can do to your plan of attack is by being under-prepared with respect to gathering and readying your pieces, checking your opponent’s best possible moves or any other components that one may think of.
The usually sharp sword of attack can quickly turn into a double-edged one or in fact even a blunt one if you haven’t adequately assembled everything that you might need during the attack. Hence, always go into the attack after carefully thinking about all the possibilities.
3. Calculate your opponent’s best moves in all possible variations
Being aware of and prepared against your opponent’s best defenses is one of the finest things you can do to ascertain the success of your attack.
One of the greatest skills any chess player can possess is to be vigilant of any hidden traps or threats your opponent may make during your attack which can completely turn the tables and change the course of the game.
One way to do so is by minutely calculating every variation from the opponent’s perspective so that you can spot moves that you might have possibly missed before. Stepping in your opponent’s shoes and finding defenses against your own attack will help you identify the possible loopholes in your plan of attack.
4. Be careful especially when you are sacrificing material
One thing is exchanging pieces but the situation is entirely different when you make a sacrifice. The latter must be calculated with enhanced precision.
In my opinion, you should make a sacrifice only in two situations, especially when you are a beginner.
- When you are absolutely certain that it will lead to a decisive result.
- When you have no other option available at hand to create some chances for yourself.
If your attack involves you undertaking a sacrifice, be sure to calculate all variations to the T. And if you feel that the sacrifice works even after that, execute it with utmost confidence!
5. Attack is the best form of defense
Sometimes, simple defenses just do not seem to work. In these cases, counter-attacking is the best way to survive the threats created by our opponents.
Though every player must possess good attacking and defending skills, it is important to know when to apply which strategy. Though holding your own fort and defending is usually a good thing to do when under attack, sometimes passive defense makes your position simply worse. In such cases specifically, counter-attacking is a great way to distract your opponent and create chances for yourself.
6. Attack your opponent’s weakest spot
When you think that it is time to take steps in order to ascertain an advantage or create some possibilities in an otherwise equal position, the simplest way to generate an attack is by targeting your opponent’s weakest spot.
It could be a piece, a pawn, a square or even a file – whatever your opponent’s weakest point may be, you should do everything in your power to concentrate your pieces around that point in such a way that the weakness is further highlighted and it gets difficult for your opponent to defend it optimally.
Another useful idea is the principle of two weaknesses. When your opponent is a skillful defender, it is often difficult to exploit a singular weakness due to the foolproof defense that is being put up by your opponent. In such cases, creating a second weakness and attacking both of them simultaneously creates added problems for your opponent which gets increasingly difficult to tackle.
7. Focus on controlling important squares, diagonals, files and ranks
Attacking does not always involve only threatening or capturing the pieces or pawns. As your level in chess increases, it often gets difficult to acquire material advantages against strong opponents. In such cases, getting a stronghold of important squares, ranks, files or diagonals becomes equally important.
A smart opponent will not let you take possession of such important points on the chessboard so easily which is why you must plan your attack in a way that leads you to gain control of these sites.
8. Know the worth of your pieces and do not exchange them
The success of an attack is largely dependent upon the pieces executing it. These pieces must be strategically placed so that they can attack or act as reinforcements whenever needed.
It is very likely that your opponent will try to exchange or eliminate these important pieces of yours as it will minimize your attacking capacity. It is crucial that you remember to not let your opponent trade these pieces at any cost. While attacking, the more the number of pieces you have close to the enemy’s weakness, the better the chance of your attack succeeding.
If at all the situation arises where the exchanges cannot be avoided, try to exchange them in a way that leads you to have a favorable position so that you continuously maintain some sort of advantage.
How do you improve your attacking skills
Here are a few tips that can help you get better at attacking in chess and in the process also gain confidence to execute your plans whenever the right opportunity arises.
1. Solve lots of tactics
Solving tactical puzzles is an amazing way to acquire different ways and patterns of putting your pieces to the best use to create attacks and threats. Doing so will also help you increase the speed of your calculation in chess as you will recollect specific patterns that you had learnt during your practice sessions.
2. Solve puzzles involving deep calculations and combinations
By undertaking this activity, you improve your chess visualization skills and your ability to calculate in depth. These abilities come in handy, especially while planning in-depth attacks where you need to calculate multiple variations.
3. Playing tons of practice games
Be it online or offline, you must try to implement all the attacking techniques that you have learnt in practice games to gain a fair idea of how to practically implement them and also gain confidence in the process.
Though attacking may seem fun while solving puzzles, it is a whole different scenario when you have to actually implement it in real games. Hence practicing it in training games will really give you crucial perspectives which will be helpful in the long run.
Conclusion
Knowing how to attack in chess is one of the most essential skills you can develop as an aspiring chess player.
Legends like Mikhail Tal, Garry Kasparov, and many more are well known to have created countless masterpieces by playing beautiful attacking chess. However, it is important to understand the kind of work they put in to get to the point where they could effortlessly carry out such attacks.
Hence, you too should work on your attacking skills so that you can get better at it and carry out your own masterpieces!