Huh? What’s this? In between what?
No, this doesn’t mean in between the squares, or in between the lines, or in between the king and the queen. The in between refers to a move that comes in between two moves that you expect your opponent to have to play consecutively. Suppose you
capture one of your opponent’s pieces, which is protected. You naturally expect him to recapture. But you must always be careful not to overlook the possibility that he may have some move he can play “in between,” perhaps a threat to another one of your
pieces, or a check. And that little “in between” move may make a world of difference . . . .
Take the position in Diagram 30, for example. Black has every reason to be happy. He has a material advantage of a rook for a bishop, and so is looking to win. Black
decides to exchange off a pair of rooks, figuring that after 1 . . .Rxh4, White has
nothing better than to recapture with 2.Qxh4. Black notices that White could also give check with 2.Qd8+ (see Diagram 31), but there doesn’t seem to be any point to it, since Black can just move the king with 2 . . .Kh7.
But Black has failed to take into account the power of this “in between” move! Black just assumed that White would have nothing better than to recapture the rook. But had Black thought more carefully about the consequences of allowing the check, Black might have realized that the queen on d8 is forking the king and rook, so White is not giving up on recapturing the rook. Even worse, once Black moves the king to h7, White will capture the rook on h4 with check (see Diagram 32).
Patrick’s Pointers
Powerful “in between” moves are often checks, so you should always be extra careful when you see that your opponent can give a check. And always take a careful look at a check that you can give: It might be a good move!
Diagram 30: Black to move.
Diagram 31: Position after 1 . . .Rxh4?? 2.Qd8+!.
Diagram 32: Position after 2 . . .Kh7 3.Qxh4+.
And it’s not just check: It’s another fork of the king and the rook! Black is obliged to move the king back to g8, and then White will capture the rook on g3, winning a rook for nothing, and gaining a decisive material advantage. Carelessly thinking that White had nothing better than to recapture, Black went from a winning position to a losing position!
Exercise #1:White to move. White wants to take advantage of the fact that the pawn on d6 defends two pieces at the same time. How can White win material?
Exercise #2:Black to move (Spassky–Fischer, World Championship Match 1972).
Bobby Fischer knew how to take advantage of deflection in this game. Can you find the winning move?
Exercise #3:White to move. Would it be a good idea for White to play 1.Rd1 to protect the queen? If not, then why?
Exercise #4:White to move. Would White prefer to have another piece on g7 besides
the rook? How should White arrange for it to happen?
Exercise #5:White to move. Can White win material by using the x-ray attack with 1.Bxe7? Does it matter which rook Black recaptures the bishop with?
Exercise #6:White to move. White can win a pawn with 1.Qa7+, but he has an even better move. The two keys here are deflection and the “in between” move!
Exercise #7:White to move. How can White win material?
Exercise #8:Black to move (Illescas–Wolff, Biel, 1993). Miguel Illescas is a tough grandmaster, but I was able to win a pawn by using a variation of deflection and a clearance sacrifice to set up a fork. Can you see what I played? (This is a tricky one!)
Exercise #9:Black to move (Shirazi–Wolff, U.S. Championship 1992). I wanted to capture White’s rook, but my pawn was pinned to my king. How did I manage to deflect the queen away, so that I could pocket some extra material?
Exercise #10:White to move. This position is identical to Diagram 3 of this chapter, except that the knight is on f6 instead of c6. That small difference allows White to save the bishop. How?
Exercise #11:White to move (Kasparov–Kramnik, Holland, 2001). Kasparov
rejected 1.g4, because he did not want to allow 1 . . .hxg3+ 2.Nxg3 Rxh3. However, he missed that at this point he would have a crushing move. What is it? (Hint: White has the same move no matter which square Black moves the rook along the h-file after 2.Nxg3.)
Exercise #12:White to move and win.
Exercise #13:White to move (Gauzel–Ginting, Novi-Sad, 1990). It looks like Black has everything defended, but White was able to overload and deflect the defending pieces to win. How?
Exercise #14:Black to move (Ehlvest–Yermolinsky, Las Vegas, 1994). White, a top grandmaster, has just played 1.Qd5. Yermolinsky, another top grandmaster,
captured the queen and lost the game. What strong “in between” move did both grandmasters miss?
Exercise #15:White to move (King–Benjamin, USA, 1962). How did White win a piece by exploiting the overloaded black queen?
Exercise #16:White to move. If 1.Qg3 or 1.Qg4, then 1 . . .Qh6 defends. Nor does 1.Qxc1 Rxc1 2.Rg7 Be8 make headway. How can White force either checkmate or decisive win of material?
Exercise #17:Black to move. It looks like White has a crushing attack. But Black can not only defend, he can win! How? (Hint: Black needs to nudge the white king to the right square.)
Exercise #18:Black to move. Can Black win material by capturing either rook? Why or why not?
Exercise #19:White to move (Maroczy–Vidmar, Ljubljana, 1922). White is attacking, but Black has an extra pawn and if he beats back the attack will win.
White found an incredible winning move. What is it? (Hint: White combines deflection with getting Black to block the defense of a key square.)
Exercise #20:White to move. If White could play g3-g4, it would be checkmate. But Black’s queen pins the g-pawn. How can White deflect the queen and win?
The Least You Need to Know
If you attack a piece, but that piece is defended by some other piece, look for a way to attack the defending piece.
If one piece defends two or more other pieces, it might be overloaded.
Pay attention to whether one of your pieces wants to get to a square that another one of your pieces is on. If so, you might be able to get it there with a clearance sacrifice.
X-ray tactics are easy to miss, so watch out for them!
Be careful for those little “in between” moves—especially checks—when you are calculating a sequence of moves.
Always keep in mind that tactics can be combined!