The Art of Attacking Play

Every game is created for filling dull gaps of people’s routine and for entertaining them. Chess, of course, has its own delighting parts and astonishing attacks are certainly one of them.

Marcel Duchamp, a famous chess player, and cubism painter, once said:

"I have come to the personal conclusion that while all artists are not chess players, all chess players are artists."

Indeed, attacking instinct is one of the most pivotal skills every chess player should have. It is highly recommended to analyze the games of Mikhail Tal, Akiba Rubinstein, Gary Kasparov, to name just a few. Nonetheless, getting some clues stick with you would be extremely helpful as well. There are thousands of famous chess syntaxes, where you can apply a relevant idea and grab your desired point.

Let us clarify a tiny, yet vastly crucial attacking trick which probably is utilized the most in strategic positions

To begin with, I would like to remind you of a famous chess tactic.

Probably everyone here will guess the winning move, which is Bxh7 and then Ng5 and Qh5. That is a very famous and simple idea. But as you already know real life is a bit tougher than it is in the books, thus let us have a look at more advanced positions where it is not enough to capture h7 pawn and force your rival to resign.

Initially, let us rate black king’s position on the board. And we do not even need any further analyzes and calculations to guess that black king literally, is in trouble, just because no any black figures are close to him and able to support when something irksome happens. And the devastation is not on the other side of the mountains.

Here we have a lightning round of sacrifices.

Defeat is inevitable for black king and what a great run by white figures. This is a really great example which proves that whenever you neglect any of your figures you will surely be punished for that horrible mistake.

Let us have a look at another similar example played by Veselin Topalov

Typical attacking position. White threatens to take H7 pawn and finalize the game. Another staggering example of a great attack, which is set up by a bishop threatening H7 field.

And the words of Marcel Duchamp make us believe that we should be artists in front of the chess board, just because only a genuine artist is able to create a strong harmony and force everyone to be admired his greatness.