Tactics are the most important component when it comes to becoming a strong Chess player. That’s why we need to train tactics the right way and teach our mind about the different tactical patterns. In this lesson, we will be talking about decoys and deflections. If you do not know the difference between the two, stay tuned because you have a lot to learn.
I am going to show you enough examples along with both definitions and then, you will see me solving some Chess tactics involving decoys and deflections.
00:00 Intro
00:47 Deflection is basically a distraction. It involves making one of your opponent’s pieces go away and stop controlling a vital square, file, rank or diagonal.
03:15 Decoy is also known as enticement. It basically involves luring one of your opponent’s pieces onto a poisoned square that way it gets in trouble.
06:00 National master Robert Ramirez solves some exercises involving decoys and deflections
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My Book Recommendations:
First tactics book:
Mixed tactics book:
Advanced tactics book:
Advanced tactics book (II):
Carlsen’s book (excellent):
Kramnik’s book (excellent):
Pirc Defense book:
Endgames book:
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Chess is an intellectual battle where players are exposed to numerous mental processes such as analysis, attention to detail, synthesis, concentration, planning and foresight. Psychological factors are also present on and off the board; playing Chess stimulates our imagination and creativity. Every single move a player makes is the result of a deep analysis based on the elements presented on the battlefield.
Chess in its essence teaches us psychological, sociological and even moral values. In a Chess game, both players start with the same amount of material and time. The fact that the white pieces move first is considered to be practically irrelevant —especially because a player typically plays one game as white and one game as black. Consequently, the final result of the battle solely depends on each player. It doesn’t matter if you win by taking advantage of your opponent’s mistakes or by simply avoiding mistakes yourself. Truth is that Chess is an extremely individual sport and our defeats can only be blamed on ourselves and no one else. And this, in the end, only benefits us because we learn to be and feel responsible for our actions and never come up with excuses to justify ourselves.
We also learn that when it comes to our victories on the board, our opponent’s mistakes play a more significant role than our own skills. Let’s not forget that a Chess game without any mistakes would be a draw. This way, Chess provides us with another valuable life lesson: be humble at all times.
About National Master Robert Ramirez:
With an outstanding background as a professional Chess player and over 8 years of teaching experience, Robert Ramirez brings both his passion and his expertise to the board, helping you believe & achieve!
Robert Ramirez was introduced to the fascinating world of Chess when he was 5 years old and has participated in prestigious tournaments such as the World Open Chess Tournament and the Pan American Intercollegiate Team Championships. Thanks to his performance, he has earned his National Master title from the United States Chess Federation.
Currently, NM Ramirez and his carefully selected team teach at several private schools in the counties of Miami-Dade and Broward and they also offer private lessons. He says the key to their success as Chess coaches is their ability to adapt to every student and to make lessons fun and interesting for students and even their family members.
3:02 can't we just Rf6 > queen takes > take back with knight #
Hey Robert, at 5:20, why does the queen have to take e7? Couldn't the queen just move to c8 blocking the pawn from promoting?
You need more subs bruh
It looks like in the puzzle at 2:33 Rh4 and Rf4 can be played in either order, not positive though.
On 2:34 What if I attacked the queen by doing the move Rf6
Then, they either capture by doing the move Qxf6 and I do the move Kxf6#
Or they move away giving me a chance to move my knight to the same square later on for the same checkmate
That was the first move coming up to my mind. Please let me know what you think.
Thank you!
Thank you
I have an app for chess coaching. It calls Deflection as "Destruction/Removal of a guard". I wonder if it is the same.
Decoys are generally more effective when they lead to knight forks from my amateur experience. Also. decoy "forces" you to think two moves ahead by default.
thankss
Thumbnail game so strong
P.s. thanks for this course
Bless you.:)
Sir, in 1st exercise can't we do bxg7 I think that would work too!!!!
Sir , this is not a chess video.
This is piece of art. This is what I need to improve my middlegame and endgame. Every day iam loving chess more and more because of u 👍
What app do you use? And is it for free
5:52 don't we loose more piece value there. I mean Queen and Rook for the exchange of bishop and queen😕
Hello Coach. I wanna tell u something and u might laugh at me. Iam practicing all ur endgames against my engine. And I passed all the tests thx to u. But suddenly i thought to practice king and queen vs king and knight. I didn’t pass the test😓. I tried it several times and couldn’t capture the knight 😔
Ha! I see the under promotion with the night this time! 5:02
0:07, I had thought exactly the same moves, but just forgot that I could underpromote to a knight causing a royal fork. Amazing tactics Coach! 👍
5:20: Does the queen really have to take? It's better for black to go Qc8. Still, with proper technique white is winning, but they'll at least have to work a bit harder.
I successfuly solve the first puzzle!!!
I got the Knight promotion puzzle. I'm so proud of myself 🤣
Any advice for making the connection between puzzle training and a live game? I feel like I usually do good training tactics, but once I'm in a live game with a clock pressuring it all goes out the window. Even in games with longer time I still miss things that I can somehow easily find in a puzzle. These videos are great. Thanks again for them.
So.. with Deflection, you want the defender out of the way; and with Decoy you want to deflect the targeted piece to a specific square (down a back alley).
1:15, what if white Bc5, and black Qc5, and white Re8+ for a checkmate?
Great stuff the only suggestion would be easier puzzles rather than those that are quite advanced especially for most of us.
7:33 Seeing the forced mate in something like 8 moves if black replies 1. …Kd7 was too difficult for me! I thought black would have time to finish the job on g2.
Nice! Very logical/consistent definitions. Maybe I'll remember the difference next time… It appears that "deflection" is used far more often against defenders than a "decoy." Perhaps you never "decoy" a defending piece except when that defender is being transformed into a primary target–i.e., when its prior defending duty becomes merely incidental.
At 7:53 cant the king just move to d7 and it will be safe?
What about rf1 – f6 attacking the queen. Best square I see is Qe7 attacking the square the rook is on still, KxRf8 gaining material. if queen moves elsewhere instead of e7 than rook can slide along the rank to h6 and hope to get guard the knight coming to f6 for check mate. What are your thoughts?
👍
for your second example of deflection what about 1. Rf6 Qxf6, 2. Nxf6++ wouldnt that work as well? That is what I saw when I paused the video. Please advise. Thank you
6:20 Hey Robert, yesterday I had this exact same puzzle in a puzzle rush. I managed to solve it pretty quickly because this concept got burned into my brain when I watched this video over a year back!
3:00 can someone tell me what happens if we go Rf6 Qxf6
And Nf6# ?
How did I miss this lesson #38? I'm systematically going thru all of your GREAT tactics lessons now.
(Luckily this one came easy to me… have done a lot of tactics puzzles lately.)
#38 Finished, Now ready to go for openings and have already bought Fundamental Chess Openings Book (Gambit Publication)…
Hope That Our Coach will also get on the 8th rank some day and will be promoted to IM (International Master)
why is it called "under promotion" when the value of the piece increases?
4:38 💀 knight could fork it along with the king
Beautiful
lesson #38: done
At 3:00 instead of Rook f4 could you do rook f6 attacking the queen again and if she takes you take back with the knight checkmate ? Or am I not seeing something lol
It just feels so good that I got that Queen and rook sacrifice to a royal fork one easily. I just didn't think about making a knight, i thought about a queen. I have learned a lesson there. See the position and compare it with if there was some other piece in the same position.
Thank you.