[Event "Blog diagrams: Sente - example 1"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/9GFpNdwd/8gJhJaLk"] [Result "*"] [Variant "Atomic"] [ECO "?"] [Opening "?"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/Illion"] [FEN "3r1rk1/8/2p2p1p/5Pp1/pp2P1P1/PP6/4K2P/3R3R w - - 0 1"] [SetUp "1"] [UTCDate "2019.08.06"] [UTCTime "14:49:16"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/9GFpNdwd/8gJhJaLk"] [Orientation "white"] { This is a basic example of sente and gote - a rook trade down an open file. White to move. } 1. Rd7! { White forces the rook trade in sente by threatening Rg7. Black cannot ignore this, and must make the trade. } (1. Rxd8? { A common mistake among beginners is to take the rook directly. This is not advisable most of the time, because it trades the rooks in gote - it is now black's turn to move. } 1... Rd8 $19 { Black gets a rook invasion which white cannot stop with Rd1. (For advanced players, you may want to verify that this is a winning endgame for black.) }) 1... Rxd7 { Compared to 1. Rxd8?, notice how now it is white to move. White has traded rooks in sente. } 2. Rd1 Rd8 3. Rd7! { To demonstrate the point yet again, white trades rooks in sente. (For advanced players, verify that the pawn endgame is winning for white after 3. Rd7!, and losing after 3. Rxd8?) } (3. Rxd8? c5 $19) 3... Rxd7 4. e5 $18 *