A Queens Gambit Trick

Whether you play the Queen's Gambit or not this trick is well worth remembering. Pattern recognition is one of the main focus points on improving at chess and reading articles alongside consistent practise will surely lead to increased tactical vision!

The first position comes from the South Wales International, the strongest tournament in the Welsh calendar year, played by rising Welsh star Emma Kong can you see what opportunity came her way in this position? Black has just played knight f6-h5

Hint: The last move played is the clue

The hint maybe threw you off as many people look at the unguarded knight on h5 and their first thoughts are to sac on h6 or give a check on h7, missing that the knight was just moved away from f6 where it was guarding something. Answer below...

This isn't exactly a one off, the British championship started on Saturday 27th July 2024 (a few days ago) and in round 1 it happened again this time played by English rising star Elis Dicen...

Both opponents are definitely capable of seeing this tactic and have probably seen it before so why did they fall for it?
There are a number of factors at play here, if you are given a position and told to find a tactic when one is there then your brain switches to look for them. In the middle of a game however your brain is not just looking for tactics it's also looking for many other things. In this case the position looks fairly normal as if no tactics are present and by playing the move knight to h5 they are trying to swap the knight for white's dark squared bishop and claim a mini win in getting the bishop pair - a strategical decision and not a bad idea at all.

Remembering this idea might help you win or avoid falling for this trap but you must always calculate fully. Here is what happens when you don't...

White has just spotted the trick and taken on d5 but then realised something and resigned on the spot, what did he miss?...

Hope this helps

Jonathan