"Combinations have always been the most intriguing aspect of chess. They are the poetry of the game; they are to chess what melody is to music. They represent the triumph of mind over matter." – Reuben Fine

"You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one." – Mikhail Tal

What you will learn

Combinations are the most complex and beautiful tactics in chess. In this course, you will learn to combine several tactical motifs to win material.

A single tactic is often only the final blow. First you may have to remove a defender, lure a piece onto the wrong square, clear a line, or force a capture that changes the position in your favour. That is where combinations begin.

The following types of combinations are included:

Removing the defence

Your opponent seems to have defended against your tactical idea, but you can still win by removing a key defender.

Trades and decoys

Use a trade or a sacrifice to lure your opponent’s piece onto a square where it helps your tactic instead of stopping it.

Clearance

Move one piece out of the way so that another piece can take over and deliver the real tactical blow.

Opening lines

Force your opponent to capture in a way that opens a file, rank, or diagonal for your tactic.

At higher levels, many tactics are no longer simple one-move shots. They are parts of a larger combination, where familiar motifs connect into a deeper forcing sequence.

Examples

In this rook endgame, White has a dangerous passed pawn on a7, but the rook on a6 is x-ray defending the promotion square.

White wins with the surprising deflection 1.Rb6+, giving check and attacking the rook at the same time. After the forced reply 1...Rxb6, the rook is deflected away from its defensive task, and White can promote the pawn and keep the new queen.

The final point is promotion, but first you must force the defender away. Once you have practised this pattern a few times, you will start noticing when a single defending piece is holding the position together.

White can win with the spectacular 1.Qxg6+!!. The queen sacrifice does two jobs at once: it deflects the king from the promotion square f8 and decoys it to g6.

After 1...Kxg6, White has the beautiful underpromotion 2.f8=N+!, and the new knight forks the king and queen. After 2...Kf5 3.Nxd7, White is a piece up.

One forcing move prepares the next, and suddenly several tactical motifs work together at once.

Black can trap the queen with the precise move 1.b4!, clearing the b3 square for the knight while attacking the queen at the same time.

If 1...Bxb4, then 2.Nb3 traps the queen immediately. And if 1...Qxb4, then 2.a3 forces the queen back, and after 2...Qa5 3.Nb3 it is trapped anyway.

Here the combination is not about one immediate tactic, but about understanding the hidden logic behind the key move. The first move looks like a simple pawn push, but it sets up a trap that Black's queen cannot escape.

Intended audience

You should have mastered Tactics before starting Combinations. The Puzzle Academy skill tree takes care of that, so if you are reading this guide, you are ready to begin.

Higher tactical levels often depend on combinations. For example, after mastering Forks level 1, you can begin to learn Deflection from fork level 1. Mastering that combination is then required before you move on to Forks level 2.

The first Combinations levels have an average rating of roughly 1300 to 1800, while the higher levels reach around 2100. If you want to score very highly on the advanced levels, Combinations remains useful practice well beyond that, even up to grandmaster strength.