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Decoy

A Decoy is a tactic in which a piece is lured into a specific square in order to be attacked. This tactic is also called Attraction or Magnet and differs from the Deflection tactic, where the enemy piece is instead chased away from a good position. In the diagram above, White can play 1.Bxf6, forcing the black King to capture on f6 and thus be checkmated next move by 2.Qe5#. The Decoy tactic often involves a sacrifice. For example, if there were no Knight on f6 in the diagram, to win, White would still play 1.Bf6, sacrificing the Bishop.

When creating a Decoy Tactic: (1) Be mindful of counterattacks. Against a Decoy Tactic: (1) Counterattack to minimize the impact.

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Master the Decoy Tactic

When we started adding a playful touch to chess learning, we looked through thousands of videos and hundreds of books to find the best resources out there. Here's our curated selection of the best content we encountered on Decoy tactics. We also included some smaller creators who are growing fast and we believe deserve your attention. Check out these resources if you want to master this tactical pattern.

Attraction - Mastering Chess Tactics
If you are a beginner, watch this video by excellent The Chess Website YouTube channel. It is the best place to start to learn Decoy tactics (here called Attraction).

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Chess tactics for beginners: decoy
Watch this very interesting take by Irina Krush on the importance of beauty and the speed in your tactical maneuvers. Decoy included.

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Every Chess Tactic Explained: Decoys*
In this Chess.com lesson, WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni gives us a very nice introduction to Decoys (sometimes here called Deflections). Remember to take advantage of the interactive challenges at the end of the video.

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Step 4 - Learning Chess - Manual
Volume 4 of the famous Steps Method by Rob Brunia & Cor van Wijgerden excellently introduces the Decoy tactic (here called Magnet). It’s all EXTREMELY clear and well organized. We love this method.

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Step 4 - Learning Chess - Workbook
The Steps Method is organized in six manuals and several workbooks. The Workbooks of Step 4 include exercises about Decoy and many other tactics. Generally speaking, all these books are gold.

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Decoy

Decoy

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Master the Decoy Tactic

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