Attack
An offensive in a chess game, the most decisive way of achieving one's goal. The success of an attack depends on many positional factors:
- an advantage in the center or control over central squares
- a more active placement of pieces
- a superiority of force in the sector of the board being attacked
- the presence of vulnerable points in the opponent's position, and the like
In other words, an attack does not arise spontaneously, but is the consequence of a deeply thought-out strategic plan.
Attack on the king
The objects of an attack can be various, and among them the main one is the enemy king. Among attacks on the king, the following kinds can be noted:
| Kind of attack | Features |
|---|---|
| With castling on the same side | As a rule, with such a placement of kings a piece game is conducted |
| With castling on opposite sides | A pawn storm is usually employed to destroy the king's cover |
| On a king stuck in the center | Such an attack arises in cases when, as a result of a badly played opening, the king is deprived of the possibility of taking shelter on a flank |
Other kinds of attack
The objects of attack in a flank attack are weak pawns, vulnerable points in the opponent's camp, which can be advantageously occupied by pieces. The seizure of open and half-open files by rooks is of great importance for the successful completion of an attack.
One of the typical kinds of flank attack, frequently encountered in modern tournament practice, is the so-called "minority attack".
Of course, this does not exhaust all the kinds of attack. A number of them are examined in the articles "Pawn Structure" and "Pawn Storm," and the means of achieving the goal, closely connected with the successful completion of an attack, are covered in the article "Tactics."