Contents

Introduction Algebraic Notation How to Study Tactics 5 6 8

The 50 Tricky Tactics

1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17) 18) 19) 20) 21) 22) 23) 24) 25) 26) 27) 28) Forks Knight Forks Queen Forks Pins (1) Pins (2) The Skewer Decoy Sacrifices Deflections Overload Discovered Attack Discovered Check Double Check The c8 and e7+ Trick The xf7+ and g5+ Trick The Cunning Caro-Kann Trap The xf7+ and e5+ Trick Pinning the Queen (1) Pinning the Queen (2) The Zwischenzug More Knight Forks The King and the Knight Fork The xh7+ Queen Fork Clearance Sacrifices Desperado Sacrifices Stalemates Rook Endgame Stalemates The Rampant Rook The Kamikaze Queen 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68

29) 30) 31) 32) 33) 34) 35) 36) 37) 38) 39) 40) 41) 42) 43) 44) 45) 46) 47) 48) 49) 50)

Kamikaze Queen and Rampant Rook The g5 & xb7 Trap The Deadly d-File Discovery The Old d5 Trick (1) The Old d5 Trick (2) The Old d5 Trick (3) The Rook Endgame Skewer Perpetual Checks The g5-f6 Perpetual The h6-f7 Perpetual The b5 & c7+ Crusher (1) The b5 & c7+ Crusher (2) Queen Sacrifice & Knight Fork (1) Queen Sacrifice & Knight Fork (2) Queen Sacrifice & Knight Fork (3) The h6 and f6+ Combo An Elastic Band Trap The ...xe4 Zwischenzug Breaking the Pin with ...xe4 (1) Breaking the Pin with ...xe4 (2) The c7 Queen Trap Far-Advanced Pawns

70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 100 102 104 106 108 110 112 114 116 126

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DEFLECTION

TRICKY TACTIC

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The c8 and e7+ Trick

The lady-killer

This combination often wins a queen. It features a rook decoy sacrifice on the c8-square, followed up by a knight fork on the e7-square. The fork of the black king and queen exploits a common formation of pieces, as, following kingside castling, the black king is naturally located on the g8-square. The ingredients to watch out for are the following: 1) a white knight on d5 and a white rook on the open c-file; 2) the black queen on d8 and the black king on g8; 3) Blacks e7-square is undefended (except by the black queen). Typical Pattern for the xc8 and xe7+ Decoy

XABCDEFGHY 8-+lw-tk+( 7t-+nzpv- 6-+-z-+pz& 5zp+N+-+-% 4-Z-+P+-+$ 3Z-+P+N+P# 2-+-W-ZPV" 1+-T-T-M-! xabcdefghy
1a) White moves First comes the rook sacrifice to decoy the black queen to the c8-square: 1 xc8 xc8 (1b).

XABCDEFGHY 8-+q+-tk+( 7t-+nzpv- 6-+-z-+pz& 5zp+N+-+-% 4-Z-+P+-+$ 3Z-+P+N+P# 2-+-W-ZPV" 1+-+-T-M-! xabcdefghy
1b) White moves The follow-up 2 xe7+ is a knight fork of the black king and queen. After 2...h8 3 xc8 White wins.

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XABCDEFGHY 8-+-w-tk+( 7+-+nzpvp 6rz-z-+p+& 5+-+N+-+-% 4-+-sP+-+$ 3Z-+-V-+-# 2-Z-S-ZPZ" 1+-TQ+RM-! xabcdefghy
2) White moves It is not essential to capture anything on c8. 1 c8 xc8 2 xe7+ wins the black queen for rook and knight.

XABCDEFGHY 8-+-+-+-+( 7+-+-+-+- 6p+-+k+p+& 5+p+pZp+-% 4-+-Z-+-Z$ 3ZPt-+-s-# 2-+-+-+P+" 1+-+Q+-M-! xabcdefghy
3) Black moves The knight can start on a different square (in this case g3 rather than d4), but the principle is the same: 1...c1! 2 xc1 e2+ winning.

XABCDEFGHY 8-+r+-+k+( 7z-+-+pz- 6-zn+p+-z& 5+-+r+-+-% 4-+PZ-w-+$ 3+-+-+N+P# 2PW-+-ZP+" 1+-T-T-M-! xabcdefghy
4a) Black moves A classy example. Ignoring the fact that his rook is attacked by a pawn, Black plays 1...xd4! 2 cxd5 xc1 3 xc1 (4b).

XABCDEFGHY 8-+-+-+k+( 7z-+-+pz- 6-z-+p+-z& 5+-+P+-+-% 4-+-s-w-+$ 3+-+-+N+P# 2PW-+-ZP+" 1+-T-+-M-! xabcdefghy
4b) Black moves The sacrificed material is neatly regained with 3...xc1+ 4 xc1 e2+ 5 f1 xc1. Black emerges a pawn up in the endgame.

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