Removing the defender

When you are attacking a piece and your opponent defends it, it is sometimes possible to win material anyway by removing the defender. There are various ways you can remove a defender; the following diagram illustrates the most common:

White is attacking the knight on a4 with the bishop on b3, and the knight on e4 with the rook. Black is defending everything with the bishop on c6. That poor bishop has a lot of jobs to do! In chess, this is called being overloaded, and it means that Black's defensive construction is fragile. White can remove the defender in several ways:

1. White can capture the defender with 1.Nxc6. After Black recaptures with 1...bxc6, both knights are undefended, and White can play 2.Bxa4 or 2.Rxe4 to win a knight. This motif is called capturing the defender.
2. White can lure the defender away from protecting the knight on e4 with 1.Bxa4. After Black recaptures with 1...Bxa4, the bishop has been deflected away from defending the knight on e4, and White can play 2.Rxe4 to win a knight. This motif is called deflection. The deflection is possible because the bishop is overloaded with two defensive tasks.
3. Deflection also works the other way: 1.Rxe4 Bxe4 2.Bxa4, although this wins less material (two knights for a rook).
4. White can attack the defender with 1.b5. Then the bishop must run away to a safe square; for example, 1...Bd7. Now the knight on e4 is undefended, and White can play 2.Rxe4. This motif is called attacking the defender.
5. After 1.b5 Bd7, the pawn on b5 has also interfered with the defense of the other knight, and White can play 2.Bxa4 too. This motif is called interference.

In this level you will practice removing an overloaded defender by deflecting it.

Examples

The black rook on c8 is protecting the queen on c7, and the rook on a8.
It is overloaded, and White can win material with the deflection 1.Qxc7.
After Black recaptures with 1...Rxc7, the rook is deflected away from protecting the other rook on a8, and White wins with 2.Rxa8.

Sometimes a deflection can involve a temporary sacrifice, as in the following example:

The queen on c6 is protecting the bishop on g2, and the rook on c5.
It is overloaded, and Black can win material with the deflection 1...Rxg2!, temporarily sacrificing the exchange.
After the queen recaptures with 2.Qxg2, it is deflected away from protecting the rook on c5, and Black can capture that with 2...Qxc5.
The investment was a good one, in the end Black has won the bishop on g2, and is two pawns up in a winning endgame.

Sometimes deflections can be a bit more complicated:

The rook on c7 is guarding the square e7 against the knight fork Ne7+.
However, White can play 1.Ne7+! anyway, as it turns out that after 1...Rxe7, the rook has been deflected away from the c-file.
White can win material with 2.Rxc8+.

How to spot a deflection

When you are attacking a protected piece, always think about ways to remove the defense. If a defender has more than one task, always check whether a deflection is possible.

Related motifs

There are various ways to remove the defence. In addition to deflection, other ways to remove the defence include capturing the defender, attacking the defender, and interference.

It is also possible to deflect the defender of a square, for example of a square where a checkmate, or a fork is possible. You can learn these combinations in the following levels: