Discovered Attack Puzzles

A discovered attack is chess with two pieces moving at once — almost. You move one piece, and a bishop, rook or queen that was standing behind it suddenly attacks along the opened line. The moving piece is free to create a second threat of its own, and defending two threats born on the same move is often impossible.

The strongest version is the discovered check: the uncovered piece checks the king, so the moving piece can grab anything it likes — the opponent must answer the check first. Stronger still is the double check, where both pieces give check at once; the only legal reply is a king move, which makes double checks the engine behind many forced mates.

To find discovered attacks, look for your own batteries in the making: a line piece behind a friendly piece that can move with tempo. Ask what the front piece could attack, capture or threaten while the back piece does its work.

The puzzles here come from real games where a discovery decided matters. Solve one on this page, then continue in the trainer at your own level.