In this level, your opponent is attacking one of your pieces. You have to defend against the threat, and avoid a capture defender tactic.

See the course introduction for an explanation on how to defend against threats and avoid tactics for your opponent.

Examples

Black just played Qa5, forking the unprotected bishop on a7 and knight on b4. How can White defend against both threats?
1.Nc6? would protect the bishop with the knight, however Black could capture the defender with 1...Bxc6!, and still win a piece, for example 2.dxc6 Qxa7.
The correct move is 1.Bc5!, protecting the knight with the bishop.

With the last move ...Rd5, Black is attacking the white queen on f5.
The queen also has to defend White's bishop on g4, which is attacked by the knight on f6.
The queen has two safe squares, from where it can keep protecting the bishop: f4 and f3.
1.Qf4? allows Black to capture the defender with 1...Qxf4!. After White recaptures with 2.gxf4 (or exf4), Black can win the now undefended bishop with 2...Nxg4.
Therefore 1.Qf3! is the only good defence.

Visualization

In these avoid levels, you have to spot any threats of your opponent before your move, and also after your move. This is good practice so you don't fall in the traps set by your opponent.

If you don't spot the threat, or the line to be avoided, you can always check the solution page, which shows both.

Related levels