I.

Fundamental Tactical Motifs (The Building Blocks)

1. Fork (Double Attack): A single piece attacking two or more enemy pieces
simultaneously.
2. Knight Fork
3. Pawn Fork
4. Queen Fork
5. Rook Fork
6. Bishop Fork
7. King Fork
8. Royal Fork (attacking King and Queen)
9. Family Fork (attacking three or more pieces)
10. Positional Fork (forking key squares)
11. Pin: A piece is "pinned" when it cannot move without exposing a more valuable piece (or
the king) behind it.
12. Absolute Pin (pinned to the king)
13. Relative Pin (pinned to a piece other than the king)
14. Situational Pin (moving loses advantage)
15. Cross-Pin (pinned from two directions)
16. Partial Pin (can move along the line of attack)
17. Reinforcing Pin
18. Counter-Pin
19. Horizontal Pin
20. Vertical Pin
21. Diagonal Pin
22. Self-Pin (moving into a pin)
23. Skewer (X-Ray Attack): The reverse of a pin. A valuable piece is attacked and must
move, exposing a less valuable piece behind it.
24. Absolute Skewer (king is in front)
25. Relative Skewer (valuable piece is in front)
26. Discovered Attack: Moving a piece uncovers an attack from another piece behind it.
27. Discovered Check
28. Discovered Attack on the Queen
29. Discovered Pin
30. Discovered Guard (uncovering a defender)
31. Double Check: A discovered check where the piece that moves also gives check.
Extremely powerful.
32. Removal of the Defender (or Undermining): Targeting a key defensive piece.
33. Capturing a key defender
34. Luring away a defender
35. Chasing away a defender
36. Exchanging a key defender
37. Sacrificing to remove a defender
38. Blocking a defender
39. Overloading (or Overworking): A defensive piece is tasked with too many duties.
40. Deflection (or Luring): Forcing an enemy piece from a key defensive square.
41. Decoy: Luring an enemy piece to a specific square to achieve another goal.
42. Decoy to a poisoned square
43. Decoy to achieve a fork
44. Decoy to achieve a pin
45. Decoy to a mating square
46. Decoy to block an escape square
47. Interference (or Obstruction): Placing a piece between two coordinating enemy
pieces.
48. Interference on a rank
49. Interference on a file
50. Interference on a diagonal
51. Self-Interference (forcing opponent to block their own piece)
52. Clearance Sacrifice: Sacrificing a piece to clear a square, line, or diagonal.
53. Square clearance
54. Rank clearance
55. File clearance
56. Diagonal clearance
57. Battery Attack: Lining up two or more pieces that move similarly.
58. Queen and Rook Battery
59. Queen and Bishop Battery
60. Rook and Rook Battery (Alekhine's Gun)
61. Bishop and Bishop Battery
62. Knight and Knight support attack
63. Pawn-supported battery
64. Windmill: A rare tactic involving a series of discovered checks, winning large amounts of
material.
65. Trapped Piece: A piece is confined with no safe squares.
66. Trapped Bishop on the rim
67. Trapped Knight in the corner
68. Trapped Rook
69. Trapped Queen
70. Perpetual Check: Forcing a draw by an endless series of checks.
71. Stalemate: Forcing a draw by leaving the opponent with no legal moves.
72. Stalemate trap
73. Desperado to force stalemate
74. Underpromotion to force stalemate
75. Zwischenzug ("In-between move"): A surprising intermediate move.
76. Zwischenschach (in-between check)
77. X-Ray: A piece indirectly attacks or defends through another piece.
78. Coercion: Forcing a response through a series of threats.
79. Desperado: A piece about to be captured sells itself as dearly as possible.
80. Pawn Tactics:
81. Pawn promotion
82. Underpromotion to a Knight
83. Underpromotion to a Bishop
84. Underpromotion to a Rook
85. Pawn breakthrough
86. En passant capture
87. Outside passed pawn
88. Connected passed pawns
89. Protected passed pawn
90. Weak Squares: Exploiting a square that cannot be defended by enemy pawns.
91. Tempo: A unit of time corresponding to one move.
92. Initiative: The advantage of being able to make threats.
93. Line Opening/Closing: Opening or closing ranks, files, or diagonals.
94. Domination: A piece is trapped despite having moves available.
95. Self-Block: Forcing an opponent to block their own king's escape.

II. Common Checkmating Patterns & Nets

96. Back-Rank Mate
97. Smothered Mate
98. Anastasia's Mate
99. Boden's Mate
100. Damiano's Mate
101. Damiano's Bishop Mate
102. Légal's Mate (or Blackburne's Mate)
103. Greco's Mate
104. Pillsbury's Mate
105. Morphy's Mate
106. Arabian Mate
107. Queen and King Mate
108. Rook and King Mate
109. Two Rooks Mate ("Lawnmower")
110. Two Bishops Mate
111. Bishop and Knight Mate
112. Hook Mate
113. Corner Mate
114. Epaulette Mate
115. Swallow's Tail Mate (or Guéridon Mate)
116. Dovetail Mate
117. Max Lange's Mate
118. Reti's Mate
119. Kill Box Mate
120. Cozio's Mate
121. David and Goliath Mate
122. Opera Mate
123. Blind Swine Mate (Rooks on the 7th)
124. Lolli's Mate
125. Anderssen's Mate
126. Balestra Mate
127. Box Mate/Corridor Mate
128. Corner Trap Mate
129. Cozio's Mate Variation
130. Dutch Mate
131. Englund Gambit Mate
132. Fried Liver Attack Mate
133. Giuoco Piano Mate
134. King's Gambit Mate
135. King's Indian Attack Mate
136. Latvian Gambit Mate
137. Lolli's Mate Variation
138. Mayet's Mate
139. Muzio Gambit Mate
140. Napoleon's Mate
141. Philidor's Mate (or Legacy Mate)
142. Queen's Gambit Declined Mate
143. Reti's Mate Variation
144. Ruy Lopez Mate
145. Scholar's Mate
146. Scotch Game Mate
147. Semi-Slav Mate
148. Sicilian Defence Mate
149. Suffocation Mate
150. Triangle Mate
151. Vienna Gambit Mate
152. Vukovic's Mate
153. Walker's Mate
154. Mating Net: A position where mate is unavoidable.
155. Queen and Knight Mate
156. Queen and Bishop Mate
157. Queen and Rook Mate
158. Rook and Bishop Mate
159. Rook and Knight Mate
160. Two Knights and Pawn Mate
161. Vančura's Mate
162. Helms's Mate
163. Liburkin's Mate
164. The Corridor of Hell Mate
165. The Double Knight Sacrifice Mate
166. The Double Rook Sacrifice Mate
167. The Suffocating Bishop Mate
168. The Fischer Attack Mate

III. Sacrifices and Advanced Combinations

169. The Greek Gift Sacrifice (Classical Bishop Sacrifice)
170. Double Bishop Sacrifice (Lasker-Bauer type)
171. Queen Sacrifice
172. Queen sac for mating attack
173. Queen sac for material gain
174. Queen sac to avoid loss
175. Queen sac for perpetual check
176. Queen sac for stalemate
177. Queen sac for positional advantage
178. Positional Sacrifice
179. Sacrifice for space
180. Sacrifice for development
181. Sacrifice to create a powerful pawn structure
182. Sacrifice to expose the enemy king
183. Sacrifice to gain control of key squares
184. Defensive Sacrifice
185. Magnetic Sacrifice (or King Lure)
186. Kamikaze Piece
187. Anti-positional Sacrifice
188. Exchange Sacrifice
189. Positional exchange sacrifice
190. Defensive exchange sacrifice
191. Attacking exchange sacrifice
192. Pawn Sacrifice (Gambit)
193. Clearance Sacrifice
194. Suicide Bomb (or Demolition)
195. Sham Sacrifice
196. Real Sacrifice (Speculative)
197. The See-saw Combination
198. The Immortal Game Combination
199. The Evergreen Game Combination
200. The Game of the Century Combination
201. Kasparov's Immortal Combination
202. Tal's "Hippo" Sacrifice
203. The Marshall Attack Combination
204. The Polugaevsky Variation Sacrifice
205. The Shirov-Topalov Bishop Sacrifice
206. The Nezhmetdinov Queen Sacrifice
207. The Speelman Sacrifice
208. The Vukovic Sacrifice

IV. Strategic Attacks & Plans

209. King Hunt
210. Attacking the Castled King
211. Opposite-Side Castling Attack
212. Pawn Storm
213. Minority Attack
214. Attacking a Fianchettoed Position
215. Exploiting Weak Color Complexes
216. Centralization
217. Prophylaxis
218. Improving the Worst Piece
219. Restricting Piece Movement
220. Creating a Passed Pawn
221. Blockade
222. The Principle of Two Weaknesses
223. Piece Coordination
224. Focal Point Attack
225. Outpost
226. The Two Bishops
227. Good Knight vs. Bad Bishop
228. Trading Strategy
229. Trading to relieve pressure
230. Trading to enter a favorable endgame
231. Trading a passive piece for an active one
232. Avoiding trades when you are attacking
233. Tension
234. Alekhine's Gun
235. Space Advantage
236. King Safety
237. Flexibility
238. Overprotection
239. Mysterious Rook Move
240. Hypermodern Strategy
241. Pawn Break
242. Lever
243. Dynamic vs. Static Advantages
244. Converting an Advantage
245. Positional Pressure
246. The Art of Maneuvering
247. Principle of Maximum Activity
248. Attack on the f7/f2 square
249. Attack on the g7/g2 square
250. Attack on the h7/h2 square
251. Bayonet Attack (h4-h5 push)
252. Keres Attack
253. The Sozin Attack
254. The Velimirović Attack
255. The Yugoslav Attack
256. The Fischer-Sozin Attack
257. The English Attack
258. The Torre Attack
259. The Trompowsky Attack
260. The Richter-Veresov Attack

V. Pawn Structures and Related Plans

261. Isolated Queen's Pawn (IQP)
262. Hanging Pawns
263. Backward Pawn
264. Doubled Pawns
265. Tripled Pawns
266. Pawn Majority
267. Pawn Minority
268. Pawn Chain
269. Passed Pawn
270. Carlsbad Structure
271. Maroczy Bind
272. King's Indian Defense Structures
273. Sicilian Defense Structures
274. Scheveningen Structure
275. Dragon Formation
276. Rauzer Formation
277. Boleslavsky Hole
278. French Defense Structures
279. Blocked French
280. Tarrasch French
281. Winawer French
282. Stonewall Formation
283. Boleslavsky Wall
284. Giuoco Piano Structure
285. Ruy Lopez Structures
286. Queen's Gambit Declined Structures
287. Slav and Semi-Slav Structures
288. Colle System Structure
289. London System Structure
290. Hedgehog Formation
291. Orthodox Exchange Structure (QGD)
292. Panov-Botvinnik Attack Structure
293. Botvinnik Structure (Semi-Slav)
294. Caro-Kann Structures
295. Geller-Tolush Gambit Structure
296. Pirc Defense Structures
297. Benoni Structures
298. The Isolani
299. The Pawn Wedge
300. The Ram

VI. Endgame Tactics & Concepts

301. Zugzwang
302. Reciprocal Zugzwang (Trébuchet)
303. Triangulation
304. Opposition
305. Direct Opposition
306. Distant Opposition
307. Diagonal Opposition
308. Oblique Opposition
309. Building a Box (or Fencing In)
310. The Lucena Position
311. The Philidor Position
312. Shouldering
313. Cutting off the King
314. Rook on the 7th Rank
315. Passed Pawn Race
316. The Square of the Pawn
317. Fortress
318. Undermining a Pawn Chain
319. Staircase Maneuver
320. Tarrasch Rule
321. Cat and Mouse
322. Corresponding Squares (Key Squares)
323. Mined Squares
324. The Vancura Position
325. The Cochrane Defense
326. The Szen Position
327. Wrong-colored Bishop
328. Opposite-colored Bishop Attack
329. Opposite-colored Bishop Endgame
330. Building a Bridge
331. Active King
332. Principle of the Grand-Plan
333. Fox in the Chicken Coup
334. Scheming Bishop/Knight
335. Active Rook vs Passive Rook
336. The "Rule of Five" (Queen vs Pawn)
337. Berolina pawn endgame
338. Bodycheck (endgame)
339. Circumventing the opponent's king
340. Kling and Horwitz position
341. Grigoriev position
342. The Saavedra Position
343. The Reti Endgame Study
344. The Plaskett's Puzzle
345. Centurini's problem
346. Berger's method
347. The Lasker-Reichhelm Position
348. The Kubbel Study
349. The Prokeš Maneuver
350. The Lolli Position
351. The Tarrasch Trap (endgame)
352. The 50-move rule
353. Threefold repetition
354. The Bare King Draw
355. The Réti Maneuver

VII. Defensive Techniques & Counter-Attacking Motifs

356. Blockade
357. The Desperado move
358. Stalemate Traps
359. Perpetual Check Defenses
360. Simplification
361. The Counter-pin
362. Intermediate Check (Zwischenschach)
363. Fortification
364. Airthreat (Luft)
365. The "Umbrella" Defense
366. King Walk to Safety
367. Jettison
368. Passive Defense
369. Active Defense
370. Exchanging the main attacker
371. Running the Gauntlet (king escape)
372. The Wooden Shield Defense
373. Ignoring a Threat
374. The Prophylactic King Move
375. Counter-attack on the Flank
376. Counter-attack in the Center
377. Creating a Diversion
378. Insufficiency of Material Draw
379. The Petrosian Exchange Sacrifice
380. The Positional Draw

VIII. Famous Traps & Swindles

381. Noah's Ark Trap
382. Elephant Trap
383. Rubinstein Trap
384. Mortimer Trap
385. Siberian Trap
386. Fajarowicz Trap
387. Halosar Trap
388. Cambridge Springs Trap
389. Marshall Trap (in the Ruy Lopez)
390. Tarrasch Trap (in the Ruy Lopez)
391. The Lasker Trap (in the Albin Countergambit)
392. The Blackburne Shilling Gambit Trap
393. The Englund Gambit Trap
394. The Budapest Gambit Trap (Kieninger Trap)
395. The Queen's Gambit Accepted Trap
396. The Wiggle-Waggle Trap
397. The Fishing Pole Trap
398. The Tennison Gambit Trap
399. The Italian Gambit Trap
400. The Dutch Defense Trap
401. The Petrov's Defense Trap (Stafford Gambit)
402. The Fried Liver Attack Trap
403. The Danish Gambit Trap
404. The Scotch Game Trap
405. The Philidor Defense Trap (Légal's Pseudo-Sacrifice)
4al. The Ponziani Opening Trap
406. The Vienna Game Trap
407. The King's Gambit Trap
408. The Caro-Kann Trap (Panov-Botvinnik)
409. The Scandinavian Defense Trap
410. The Alekhine's Defense Trap
411. The Nimzo-Indian Defense Trap
412. The Queen's Indian Defense Trap
413. The King's Indian Defense Trap
414. The Grünfeld Defense Trap
415. The Benko Gambit Trap
416. The Blumenfeld Gambit Trap
417. The von Hennig-Schara Gambit Trap
418. The Colle System Trap
419. The London System Trap
420. The Torre Attack Trap
421. The Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Trap
422. The Sokolsky Opening Trap
423. The Bird's Opening Trap
424. The Dutch Defense Staunton Gambit Trap
425. The Sicilian Dragon Trap
426. The Sicilian Najdorf Trap
427. The Sicilian Sveshnikov Trap
428. The French Defense Winawer Trap
429. The French Defense Tarrasch Trap
430. The Alapin Sicilian Trap

IX. Psychological & Practical Concepts

431. Time Pressure Attack
432. Playing the player, not the position
433. The Swindle
434. "Hope Chess" (playing a move hoping the opponent misses the threat)
435. The "Cheapo" (a simple, often obvious threat)
436. Inducing an Error
437. Creating Complications
438. The "Coffeehouse" Move (a flashy but unsound move)
439. The Practical Choice (choosing a simpler winning line)
440. Maintaining the Tension
441. The Element of Surprise
442. The "Killer" Move (a move that ends resistance)
443. Positional Intuition
444. Pattern Recognition
445. Calculation vs. Intuition
446. Bluffing in Chess
447. The "Nudge" (a subtle move to provoke a weakness)
448. The long think (to intimidate or to calculate)
449. The quick move (to suggest confidence)
450. The "what if" analysis

X. More Endgame Concepts & Specific Scenarios

451. Knight vs. Pawn Endgames
452. Bishop vs. Pawn Endgames
453. Rook vs. Pawn Endgames
454. Queen vs. Pawn Endgames
455. Rook vs. Minor Piece Endgames
456. Queen vs. Rook Endgames
457. Queen vs. Two Rooks Endgames
458. The Trebuchet Position
459. The Averbakh Method
460. The Capablanca Rule (endgame)
461. The Reti-Alekhine Position
462. The Grigoriev-Kopaev Position
463. The Gulam Kassim Position
464. The Lasker Maneuver
465. The Zukertort Maneuver
466. The Nimzowitsch Blockade
467. The Steinitz King March
468. The Botvinnik Rule
469. The Dvoretsky Method
470. The "Pawn Cube" Rule
471. The "Short side" defense (Rook Endgames)
472. The "Long side" attack (Rook Endgames)
473. The "Active King" Principle
474. The "Do not hurry" Principle
475. The "Frontal Attack" (endgame)
476. The "Reserve Tempo"
477. The "Loose Piece" Tactic
478. The "Steinitz Gambit" Position
479. The "Tarrasch Defense" Endgame
480. The "Tartakower Variation" Endgame
481. The "Karpovian" Squeeze
482. The "Fischer" Endgame Technique
483. The "Carlsen" Grind
484. The "Rubinstein" Endgame
485. The "Capablanca" Endgame
486. The "Smyslov" Endgame
487. The "Korchnoi" Counter-attack
488. The "Lasker" Endgame
489. The "Alekhine" Complication
490. The "Botvinnik" Centralization
491. The "Euwe" Logical Approach
492. The "Petrosian" Prophylaxis
493. The "Spassky" Universal Style
494. The "Tal" Intuitive Sacrifice
495. The "Kasparov" Dynamic Play
496. The "Kramnik" Solid Defense
497. The "Anand" Rapid Attack
498. The "Polgar" Sharp Tactics
499. The "Shirov" Fire on Board
500. The "Ivanchuk" Eccentricity
501. The "Topalov" Pressure
502. The "Aronian" Creativity
503. The "Nakamura" Swindle
504. The "Caruana" Deep Preparation