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Check is an attack on the king. Any piece can attack the king, except for the opponent’s king itself. If the king is under attack, it must be saved immediately. If your king is in check, you cannot ignore it — you are required to defend against it. Consider the position in Diagram №1. The bishop has attacked the black king, meaning that Black is in check.
How to defend against check?
There are several ways to defend against check. Not all of them may be available in a particular position during a game. If none of the methods are possible, then it is checkmate (meaning there is no way to save the king).
Let’s consider each method separately.
Escape
The simplest and most obvious method. If the king is in check, it can leave the attacked square and move to a safe one. Consider the position in Diagram №1. Which squares can the king escape to? The square h8, where it currently stands, is under attack by the white bishop. The square g7 is also attacked by the bishop, and since the king cannot move onto attacked squares, it is unavailable as well. The square h7 is occupied by its own pawn, leaving only one escape route — moving to g8 (Diagram №2).
Blocking
One of the ways to defend against check is to block the attack with another piece of the same color. Look again at Diagram №1 and think about which pieces could protect the attacked king. Black has a rook, bishop, and pawn, but in this position only the bishop can block the diagonal along which the king is attacked. Therefore, in response to the check, Black moves the bishop to g7 (Diagram №3).
Capturing
If the piece attacking the king (the piece giving check) is on a square where it can be captured, then that piece can simply be taken. In Diagram №1, the white bishop is located on b2. The black rook is standing on the b-file, so it can capture it without difficulty (Diagram №4).
Sometimes only one of these methods will be available, while in other situations all three may be possible. Which one to choose depends on the specific position on the chessboard. An important detail — if the king is in check from a knight, there are only two ways to escape: capturing the knight or moving the king. Blocking a knight’s attack is impossible!
Which pieces can give check?
Any piece can give check to the opponent’s king except the king itself. In Diagram №5, each white piece can attack the black king.
Available moves:
- Check with the queen diagonally from d5 and horizontally from d7.
- Check with the rook vertically from f8 and horizontally from a7.
- Check with the bishop from e8.
- Check with the knight from g5.
- Check with the pawn by moving from e5 to e6.
The white king, although standing next to the black king, cannot give check because it is not allowed to move onto attacked squares (meaning that kings cannot stand next to each other).
What types of check are there?
There are several types of check. Let’s look at each one separately.
Direct check
Diagram №6 shows an example of a typical direct check. It is a direct attack on the king by the piece that made the last move.
All types of defense are available against this attack, provided that the necessary pieces are present.
Discovered check
The opponent’s king does not always have to be attacked directly. Sometimes your own pieces block an enemy king from being attacked. You only need to move them out of the way. Consider the position in Diagram №7.
The white pawn was standing on c3 and was blocking the bishop’s attack on the black king along the diagonal. However, after moving to c4, check is given because the diagonal has been opened.
Double check
Sometimes the king is attacked not by one, but by two pieces. Consider the position in Diagram №8.
The black rook, like the pawn in the previous diagram, was blocking the diagonal attack on the king. However, after moving to c8, the black king receives double check because it is attacked by the bishop along the diagonal and by the rook horizontally. It is impossible to defend against such a check by capturing or blocking, because the attack comes from two directions by two different pieces. The only possible way is to move the king.
You can practice attacking the opponent’s king using the chess board editor. Set up the required position and practice giving check to your opponent!
