Tactics: Discovered Attack

In chess, a discovered attack is an attack revealed when one piece moves out of the way of another. Discovered attacks can be extremely powerful, as the piece moved can also make a threat independently of the threat it reveals.

• Every piece is capable of a discovered attack.

The purpose of a successful Discovered Attack is to:

1. Gain a material advantage.

2. Gain a Tempo in the game.

Below are several diagrams illustrating 
how the discovered attack works.

A green colored box represents the attacking piece(s)
A blue colored box represents the path of attack
A red colored box represents the target(s) of the attack
A purple colored box represents the piece uncovering the attack

Diagram 1.1

(The board before uncovering the attack)

  If the D5 knight moves it will 
uncover an attack against the queen 

Diagram 1.2

(The board after uncovering the attack)

The D1 rook is now attacking the queen, while the 
knight has created a second threat against the H5 rook.