Typical double attack scenarios Part-2

This is the second part of the article about the typical scenarios of the tactical motif in chess, which is called Double attack. If you have missed the first part, you can find it here.

Practical example 2

Black to Play.

How do you evaluate this position? At the first glance, the position looks a little better for Black, because White has weaknesses in his pawn structure.

Have you spotted that the Rook on b1 is unprotected? It is difficult for someone to discern this immediately. In any case, the game continued in a forcing way: 41…Nh2 42.Rf2 Nxf3+ 43.Rxf3

Perhaps you can spot a very obvious double attack now. The Bishop captures on e4 and both of White’s Rooks are hanging. Black makes this move in the game and White resigns instantly.

Conclusions

1. The double attack is the most common and one of the most powerful tactical weapons in chess.

2. We have three different scenarios:

• Scenario 1: One White’s piece attacks two Black pieces.
• Scenario 2: One White’s piece attacks the King and another White’s piece attacks the opponent’s unprotected piece.
• Scenario 3: Last, but not least, the White’s Queen is threatening checkmate and another unprotected piece.

First, we must understand deeply the three main scenarios and then try to apply them in practice. Usually the practical examples are little more complicated, but if you have understood them then everything will be clear to you and you will gain a lot of wins.

Practice – exercises

Exercise-1
White to play

Exercise-2
Black to play

Exercise-3
White to play

Exercise-4
Black to play

Exercise-5
White to play

After calculating all possible variations, you’re welcome to check the solution in the PGN files here.

P.S. Did you manage to find the right solution for all the exercises? Did you like this two-part article? Feel free to write your thoughts and comments below.