Chess Attacks - Discovered Check

A discovered check, or discovered attack can become your worst nightmare. You need to be aware of this kind of checkmate position. Plan your strategy early to avoid being stumped by this chess play.

Discovered check is a check that is revealed when one chess piece moves out of the way of another chess piece. The chess piece revealed is the one "in check." That means that your opponent's revealed chess piece can checkmate your King. Of course that is a good move for your opponent, and a better one if YOU use this chess tactic.

Wikipedia defines discovered check: "an attack revealed when one piece moves out of the way of another." A discovered check is also called an uncovered check. It can operate from different principles than a basic chess checkmate, as seen in the chess King moves.

1) White Knight Shielding White King

Let's see if we can explain this move with examples. Remember a check is effective when one chess piece moves into the right square, the right position to "give check." In our previous diagram in Chess Checkmate, the White King is shielded from a check from the Black Queen by the White Knight as shown in diagram 1.

In the next diagram, the check is stopped by the White Bishop capturing the Black Queen.

2) Check is stopped by White Bishop

There, of course, is not any danger from the Queen now because she is captured and is out of the game.

3) White Pawn Covers Queens Check

Now we can put the White Queen in a position for a discovered check in the third diagram. Queens are so good at checkmate due to their versatile moves. Make sure you develop a good strategy for the opponents Queen so she does not surprise you.

In the third diagram the pawn is right in between the White Queen on the lower left corner, and the Black King in the upper right area on the board. There is a diagonal line of attack that when the pawn moves, the Queen would be in position for the check.

When the White Pawn moves ahead one square, the Queen's position for an attack is revealed (the discovered check.) The Black King is open for an attack to be made on him by the chess Queen moves. 

Next we will find out what makes a discovered check so dangerous to the defense position. In this chess tactic, if he is not protected, the King will find himself in a checkmated position.

See also 3 other kinds of Checks:
Check
Double Check
Forked Check







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Chess Check

Marble Chess Board

Checkmate is another way of saying that a King is lost. A King that is checkmated will not be able to move anywhere without being captured. That means the game has ended. As long as a King can move, in basic chess, the chess game can continue. There are other issues involved as you learn more strategies. When a King plays chess without being captured, the game goes on.

Whenever a King chess piece is attacked, he is said to be "in check." Looking at the diagram below will show you that the Black's Queen is "giving check" to the White King. The Queen's capturing powers are dynamic. 

Black Queen giving check

Protecting the King is your most important job. Whenever he is "in check", or about to be checkmated and can not move, you need to move him and take measures to get him out of check. There are so many ways to do this, and it depends on what pieces you have on the board. But you can remember two things:

1. Move the King out of the range of the chess piece that is attacking him. 
2. Block the attack on your King with your other chess piece. There are different ways to do this. You can block the King by your chess piece and you can put one of your pieces in a position to attack the opponent and capture it before it moves to attack the King.

White King moving out of check

The White King moved closer to his own team in this case. Where the King moves would depend on where each of the opponents and his chess pieces are.

As you study opening moves, you will learn where to keep certain chess pieces in place for readiness to protect the King.

The diagram on the left shows the King moving out of check. See the diagram below for another method to prevent checkmate.

Bishop captures Black Queen

The second method of keeping away from a checkmate situation is to attack and capture the opponents piece that is giving the check.
The White Bishop captured the Black Queen and put an end to the check. See the diagram on the left.

This is why you need to learn to set up your chess pieces at the beginning of the chess game so that you can anticipate and be ready for any move for your King being checkmated.

Checkmate

Your most important job is to protect your King, but also to put yourself into the position of checkmating your opponent King.

Critical thinking strategy: Plan your moves ahead, keep remembering the different moves of the chess pieces while protecting your King and working toward checkmating the opponent King. Winning chess games depend on it.

Other Check Strategies:
Discovered Check
Double Check
Forked Check

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The Queen Chess Piece Moves

Gothic Style
King, Queen, Bishop, Knight,
Rook, Pawn

The Queen makes all the difference in the chess game. She makes all the moves that the King moves but is virtually unlimited in the distance she travels. The only way a Queen can be stopped in one direction is if there is another chess piece in her way. This is not checkers, so she can not jump any piece. It does not matter whether the chess piece is friendly or hostile. The Queen will graciously stop before a friendly chess piece but can capture a hostile piece in one move.

See how a Queen moves in the diagram below. Notice the white pawn will stop her move.

The Queen Moves Everywhere

The only way a Queen can be stopped is if there is a friendly or a hostile piece in her way. The Queen graciously stops in front of a friendly piece and can capture a hostile piece that is in her way. You need to be aware of this ability of the Queen and try to stay out of her range, or beat her in her game. 

A limitation: the Queen moves in only one direction at a time. She can not stop and turn direction in the same play. This is true with every chess piece. They can only move in one direction. In the above diagram, the Queen can go all the way to the edge of the board from the opposite end if it is to her advantage. She truly keeps the game moving with her versatile ability to move so far in one direction at a time. 

I like to think of the moves of a Queen as sweeping. Just make sure she does not sweep too many of the opponent pieces off the board!

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The Pawn Captures Uniquely

Marble Chess Board

The Chess Pawn's moves are only forward, never does it move backwards. Pawns can not move out of their straight forward line except to capture. All the other chess pieces capture the same way they move, but the Pawn is an exception.

The Pawn never moves backwards, but to capture it moves forward - diagonally. It can only move diagonally one square, but that is the only way it captures. It can not capture moving straight ahead. The Pawn is a sneaky chess piece and if you are not watching, it can catch you unawares. Pawns are known for winning chess games! 

Moving forward diagonally means moving to the right or to the left. It does not matter which way, the Pawn can only go one of those ways in a move though. It can not move forward and diagonally, it has to choose to do one or the other.

 The diagram on the left shows the Pawn before it captures. See how the White Pawn can capture Black Rook on the right side of the diagram.

On the left side of the diagram neither Pawn can capture the other because they are straight on. Neither of them can move anywhere.

In the center of the diagram, the Black Pawn can capture the White Queen.

Remember the Black Pawns are advancing "down" the diagram, and the White Pawns are moving "up" the diagram.

In capturing, the Pawn will remove the Rook from the game and place itself on the same square the Rook had been on. The Pawn has to be able to land on the same square as the Rook is on. A Pawn can not capture if it can not land on the square the opposing chess piece is on, in one move.

The second diagram shows all the positions of the chess pieces after the Pawns have captured.

Explaining how the Pawn moves ends this section explaining how each of the chessmen move and capture. This is basic and simply explained. We have explained how the chess board is set up. Next we will illustrate how to win a chessboard game.

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White pawn captures black rook

Black pawn captures white queen

Neither black or white pawn can move

The Chess Pawn's Special Role

King, Queen, Bishop, Knight, Rook, Pawn

The general rules for the Pawn moves should be simple, but they are not. In many ways they are more variable than even the Knight. I think that is why we saved this chess piece for the last.

The King piece moves are limited and is the most protected; The Queen piece moves aggressively and is the most functional; the Rook piece moves crosswise; the Bishop chess piece stays on the same color of squares and doesn't vary; the Knight chess piece has the most unique and unpredictable moves; but the Pawn has the most distinctive moves.

The Pawn moves in only one direction. They only move forward toward the other side. I look at them as the quiet offensive. I like the Pawn, I think, the best. I remember them as always moving up or forward toward the opposite side. Of course, the opponents pieces would look like they are moving down toward you as you are looking at the chessboard.

In the initial set up of the game all the pawns are place in the second horizontal row on their colors side. The white Pawns on the white side, the black Pawns on the black side. See the diagram at the bottom of the page for the correct chessboard set up.

The Pawns are in the front row and each Pawn has an initial first move decision to make. They can make this decision only once and then it is gone forever. This makes the Pawn a very complex chess piece. This is the decision that the Pawn has to make. This chess piece can either move ahead one square or to squares only on it's first move. After that first move, the Pawn can only move one square at a time in a forward direction always. It can never move backwards.

The Pawns in the Initial Set Up Position

Watch how the Pawn move in these two diagrams. The first diagram shows the Pawns in the initial beginning position at the start of the game.

They are in the second row on opposite sides at the start up of the game.

After the Pawns Have Moved

The White Pawns moved:

The right remained in its starting position.

The center advanced one square in its first move.

The left moved two squares in its first move.


The Black Pawns moved:

The right remained on its same square.

The center moved two squares in its first move.

The left opted to advance one square in its first move.


How would you know whether to move ahead one or two squares with the first move? How would you know which one to move ahead first? And how would you know which one needs to move one ahead and which ones need to move two ahead in their first moves?

To top it off, the way a Pawn captures, yes it can capture, is very unique. The one thing that all the chess pieces can do it capture. They just do it differently.

Initial Chessboard Set Up

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How Does the Chess Knight Capture?

King, Queen, Bishop,
Rook, Pawn

The Knight, in Chess, captures in exactly the same way he moves. Remember a Knight Chess Piece moves 3 squares on each of his moves. He either moves 2 squares up or down and 1 square to the right or left, or he moves 2 squares to the right or left and then moves 1 square up or down. 

How a Knight Captures

This diagram shows how he can move and capture and who he can capture. In this instance, he can capture any of the 3 pawns pictured.

Here is the white Knight and 3 black pawns. Which one will be to his advantage to capture will depend on the set up of all the rest of the chess pieces. Of course this will probably not ever happen in a real game, but for teaching purposes we can see that if any opposing chess piece is in any square that the Knight can reach he will capture them, take them out of the game, and replace himself on the square that the opposing chess piece had been on. 

The Knight can do something that no other chess piece can do. He can jump over friendly or hostile chess pieces located on the path he needs to take.

He cannot capture any piece that he jumps over, he has to land on the square that the hostile chess piece is on in order to capture it.

Of course, a Knight would not take his own teammate out by landing on his own friendly chess piece. A friendly chess piece is any white chess piece, if he is white or any black chess piece if he is black.

The landing square is also called the end-square. So to repeat, the Knight can only capture opposing or hostile chess pieces that are on his end-square, or the square he ends up on after he moves. 

If the Knights end-piece is a friendly chess piece, he cannot move to that square. 

Remember that in the initial chess board set up the Knights are placed between the Rooks and the Bishops. For a diagram see Chess in 30 Minutes.

Think about the ways that a Knight can work to win the game. Why is he so important? Why does he need to be protected and how can he best protect the King? Getting answers to these questions are your way of developing your unique chess strategies and winning game moves.

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The Knight Chess Piece is Exceptional

Marble Chess Board

Just as the Queens moves are extraordinary, the Knight's moves are exceptional. No other chess piece can move the way a Knight can move.

Remember a Queen moves only in one direction and is unlimited in her distance except by another chess piece being in her way. She can not jump over any chess piece and has to stop when a chess piece is in her way.

A Knight can move in 2 opposite directional patterns in one move. He is exceptional in that he can move in a way that no other chess piece can move in. He can be used in a marvelous way because of this characteristic.

To understand this concept I had to remember how a Knight is used in war. Remember the role of a Knight in the round table of Medieval Times and remember Robin Hood and all his men. I remember reading the story of William Wallace and was very impressed with his manly characteristics of chivalry.

Vertical movements

Horizontal movements

The Knight in chess always moves 3 squares. He has a pattern that no other chess piece has and he can potentially make 8 different moves from one square. He can use the entire board in a game.

Remember the Queen, the Rook, the Bishop and the King can only move in one direction within each move. The exceptional Knight always moves two directions in one move. He is the only chess piece that can do that.

Possible Moves a Knight May Move

Follow the possible moves a Knight may make from the diagram below. The "X" marks the places a Knight may end up after his move.  The "X's" form a diamond shape all around the Knight.

The Knight always moves 2 squares first, and then one square. The Knight's moves can be described in two different ways:

1. He can move 2 squares up or down and then one square right or left. 
2. Or he can move 2 squares right or left and then one square up or down. 

Remember this and note it: if the Knight starts out on a white square, he will end up on a black square. Of course, the reverse is true also. If the Knight starts out on a black square, he will end up on a white square. It makes an easy check to make sure the Knight moved correctly. 

King, Queen, Bishop, Knight,
Rook, Pawn

For more information refer to the initial way a chess board set up looks and learn how to play chess.

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The Bishop Chess Piece

Marble Chess Board

The Bishop is another chess piece that starts on the back row.  Remember one Bishop is right next to the King and the other is right next to the Queen.

He has the same distance capability as the Queen and the Rook, except, that he only moves diagonally. An easy way to remember that is to remember that a Bishop will only be able to move on the color of the square he starts out on. If the Bishop is on a white square, he will always stay on white squares to move. The same moves, only on black squares, for a Bishop that starts out on a black square. He may not at any time zig-zag. Notice on the diagram how a Bishop can move diagonally.

How the Bishop Moves

Of course, remember that the squares just have to be different colors, they do not have to be black and white for you to practice the game.

The Bishop may be referred to as the Queen's Bishop or the King's Bishop in order to identify which chess piece they are. They do not have to follow the Queen chess piece moves nor do they follow the King, it is just a way of identifying which piece they are. Since they are "forever doomed" to play on only one color you may look at them as in a prison type setting. I prefer to look at them as a guard. I imagine them as tall and majestic with authority. Nobody I would want to fool with.

The Bishop will capture as any other piece. He will occupy the chess piece that he lands on and takes the opposing piece out of the game.

One white Bishop can capture
the black Rook
The other white Bishop can capture
the Black King

The Bishop will capture anything that lands on his territory. A white Bishop that is on a black square can capture the King. That leaves the white Bishop on the white square waiting to capture the Rook. You can see how this works in the diagram.

It is pretty simple to remember that the Bishop chess piece moves have to stay on the white squares if he starts out on the white squares, and he has to stay on the black squares if he starts out on the black squares.

How do you picture this bishop and what will you think of to remind you of his role and his movements?

Bishop

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The Chess Piece Rook's Place

Marble Chess Board

I used to call this piece a "castle". I'm not sure where it comes from but it looks like a tower on a wall that reminds me of a castle. Castle or tower or the other previous names for the Rook are not accurate.

In the initial chess board set up or starting position, the Rook is in the outermost corners of the back rows. Again note that one white Rook will be on the white square and the other white Rook will be on the black square. The same is true with the black Rook.

The Rook has the distance ability as the Queen, but not the directions. The Queen chess piece moves in every direction, but the Rook can only move vertically or horizontally. So he can travel up or down and right or left.

The diagram on the right will show how a Rook can capture.

Rook can capture
black Knight or black Bishop

The Rook can capture either the black Bishop or the black Knight. He will travel to the square of the opponent and displace the opponents piece with himself.

Very simple moves, but can be very powerful in certain qualified moves.

I still think of the Rook as a castle, but that's easy to stop. Just learn why a Rook is called a Rook. Learn how a Rook and King work together in a move called "Castling".

Rook

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Chess Queen's Capturing Powers

Marble Chess Board

Formidable is a very descriptive word and it entirely pictures the capturing powers of the Queen chess piece. Her enormous range in distance is the reason for this term. This  movement of the Queen can be visualized in the diagram below.

What happens if the white Queen moves vertically? Which chess piece can she capture in that
direction, and would it be wise to choose to do that? She, of course, can capture either of the black Bishop pieces.

If she moves diagonally, the queen can capture either one of the black Knights. What would be her motive in capturing these chess pieces?

Lastly, the Queen can move horizontally and capture either of the black Rooks by landing on their square and removing them from the game. She places herself on the square the opponent was on.

The biggest question remains that we will discuss later, which plan would benefit her side the most? But for now we just have to know that the Queen has the ability to move in those directions and at that distance. Again, she can only go one direction at a time in the move. She does not even have to capture the chess pieces if she does not want to. But it would be foolish to land right up to where they could capture her in the next move.

Remember in the opening position, or starting position of the game, each Queen is in the center of the back row next to the King. The white Queen on the white square and the black Queen on the black square is the rule of "Queen on color." Do not forget this rule as it can never be changed.

It would be nice if the Queen could capture all these pieces in one move, but she has to choose only one piece. That could get tricky if she can not make up her mind.

Remember too, that after you have learned the chess piece names and their places and are ready to play, there is a time limit for each move you make. It is nice to start memorizing plays that you would like to make, and that are effective, right now while you are learning the basic moves of each piece.

Center - King and Queen

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