From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Undermining (chess)
Undermining (chess)
a b c d e f g h Undermining (also known as Removal of the Guard) is a
chess tactic in which a defensive piece is captured, leav-
8 8
ing one of the opponent’s pieces undefended or under-
defended. The opponent has the unpalatable choice be-
7 7
tween recapturing or saving the underdefended piece. A
possible response is to sacrifice the piece whose defence
6 6
is being undermined before capturing the piece which
5 5 just took the defender.
Kramnik-Topalov in the seventh round of the 2004
4 4 Linares chess tournament reached the diagrammed posi-
tion with White to play. The black knight on a4 is defend-
3 3 ed only by the black pawn on b5. White undermined the
knight with 1.Bxb5. The game continued 1... Rxb5, 2.Rxa4,
2 2 with a net material gain of a pawn for White.
The superior continuation is 1... Nxb2 disposing of
1 1 the unguarded knight. If 2. Kxb2 Rxb5+. This regains the
pawn for black.
a b c d e f g h
References
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Categories:
• Chess tactics
• Chess terminology
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