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Chess Piece Safety - Exercises Page 2

It is white to move in each exercise. Each exercise poses a potential move for white. You must decide if the move is safe.


Exercise 6

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White to move - Is Qh5 safe?.

White is considering the aggressive move Qh5. This would threaten to capture the unprotected black pawn on e5, and threaten Qxf7 checkmate. Is Qh5 safe?


Exercise 7

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White to move - Is Ra8+ safe?

White sees that she can play Ra8+ ... and it looks like checkmate too! Let's take a closer look. Is Ra8+ safe?


Exercise 8

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White to play - is Qxb5 safe?

White sees that the black Knight on b5 is unprotected. Is Qxb5 safe?


Answers

Ex 1: No! 1. Qh5 hangs the Queen, leading to 1... Nxh5. White has lost his Queen for nothing!

Ex 2: No! 1. Ra8+ hangs the Rook, leading to 1... Bxa8. Black can just capture the white rook to avoid checkmate.

Ex 3: Yes! 1. Qxb5 wins a knight.


Back - Next
Chess Tactics - Table of Contents
Introduction - What Are Tactics?
Piece Safety - Exercises (1) - Exercises (2)
Counting - Exercises (1) - Exercises (2)
Tactical Motifs Introduction
The Fork - Exercises
The Knight Fork - Exercises
The Pin - Exercises
The Skewer - Exercises
The Discovered Attack - Exercises
Removal of the Guard - Exercises
Back Rank Checkmates - Exercises (1) - Exercises (2)
Conclusion