You Gain a Tempo when the move you make forces the opponent to react in a way that gives you an extra move, seemingly 'for free'. In the diagram above, White wants to place the Queen on the c4 square. Instead of playing the direct 1.Qc4, White gains a tempo with 1.Qh4+: the King has to move to g8, which allows for 2.Qc4+. The King has to move again, and now White can make the next move with the Queen already on c4.
Gaining a tempo maneuvers share strong similarities with the Intermezzo tactic. The main difference is that, in an intermezzo, the opponent typically anticipates a sequence of moves in response, whereas in a Gain of a Tempo tactic, there is no such expectation.
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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 Gain of a Tempo 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.
If you are serious about your chess, absolutely go for this in-depth introduction to the concept of “Tempo” by the channel Chess Thinking!. As usual, great care is taken here by NM Heisman in providing you with the most precise and useful definitions.
This brief video by Chess With takes the concept of Gaining a Tempo and demonstrates how you can apply it (in a stunning way!) in a very particular situation. Have fun.
This chess.com lesson by WGM Camilla Baginskaite is part of a full series titled “Tempo Moves”. The audio quality is not the best, but the content is of absolute interest to any intermediate/expert player.
This book is highly focused on tactics, Michael de la Maza proposes a unique and intensive training method focused on pattern recognition and visualization. Several exercises use the Gain of a Tempo pattern. For highly motivated players only.
A well-written book by Davorin Kuljasevic on evaluating positions in a way that considers the importance of space and time (both in the sense of initiative and tempo). Highly recommended.
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