Deflection in chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

 is a tactic that forces an opposing piece to leave the square, rank or file it occupies, thus exposing the king or a valuable piece. It is typically used in the context of a combination or attack, where the deflected piece is critical to the defence. Deflection may be used as a gambit to cause an opponent's piece to move to a less suitable square.
Deflections are often used as part of a combination

Combination (chess)

In chess, a combination is a sequence of moves, often initiated by a sacrifice, which leaves the opponent few options and results in tangible gain. At most points in a chess game, each player has several reasonable options from which to choose, which makes it difficult to plan ahead except in...

 which may involve other types of chess tactics as well.

If the deflected piece happens to be an overworked piece

Overloading (chess)

Overloading is a chess tactic in which a defensive piece is given an additional defensive assignment which it cannot complete without abandoning its original defensive assignment.-Example:...

 then the opponent's defense instantly crumbles, making victory imminent to the one who employed the deflection.

External links

• Chess Tactics Repository - Deflection - Collection of chess problems on deflection
• 101 Chess Tips - Deflection - Relates deflection to an overworked piece
• Chess Guru - Learn how to use deflection in chess - A tutorial in the use of deflection to win games
• Chess Corner - Deflection - Shows several chess problems involving deflection