Part of the Tactics & Checkmates JourneyNewJourneyChess Tactical Motifs
The tactics that win material, taken past the beginner version. Seven chapters go deeper into each motif - the knight's fork squares, piling up on a pin, driving a piece onto the skewer line, loading the discovered attack, building a double check, closing the net on a trapped piece - and end with a chapter on the tactic that isn't.
35 lessons35 challenges
- Beginner friendly
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Syllabus
This section is part of the Tactics & Checkmates Journey. The full syllabus has more sections: click any preview below to view it on the Journey page.
- Section 1Checkmate Patterns I40 lessons
Section 2
Core Motifs
Start sectionStartThe tactics that win material: the fork, the pin, the skewer, the discovered attack, double check and trapped pieces - each drilled from real games, and a chapter on telling a tactic from a mirage.The Fork
5 lessons5The Pin
5 lessons5The Skewer
5 lessons5Discovered Attack
5 lessons5Double Check
5 lessons5Trapped Pieces
5 lessons5Tactic or Not?
5 lessons5
Learn by Playing
See every idea on a real board. Each lesson shows you the position, explains what is happening on it, then asks you a question about it.
Every game starts here. The two arrows are the classical first moves.
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Promotion zoneEvery way to learn
Read, listen, test yourself, or look up anything you've already covered. Every lesson meets you where you are.
The chessboard is a grid of 64 squares, 32 light and 32 dark, in a pattern where the colors always alternate.
Set it up so that each player has a light square in their bottom-right corner.
Files run up the board and ranks run across it. Together they give every square its own name.
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Chess Fundamentals
Add to LinkedInWhy learn tactical motifs with Coddy
- Every motif, from the setup side. Not just what a fork looks like but where the knight's fork squares are and how to make a fork with check; not just a pin but piling up on it, the pinned defender, and unpinning with tempo.
- From real games. Every drill position comes from a played game, ordered by how often the motif decides games at club level, so what you practise is what you will actually get to play.
- Trapped pieces get a chapter of their own. No way home, closing the net, the greedy piece - the motif that beginner courses skip and that wins a piece outright when it lands.
- Tactic or not? The last chapter is positions that look like a fork, a pin, a free piece, and are not - because the tactics you can see are only worth as much as the ones you can rule out.
Frequently asked questions about tactical motifs
How do I spot a fork before it happens?
Look for two loose or valuable pieces a knight's move apart from one square, especially pieces on the same colour of squares as the knight. Forks with check are the deadliest because the reply is forced. The Fork chapter maps the knight's fork squares and drills seeing them from the other side too.
What is the pinned defender?
A piece that is guarding something but is itself pinned, so it cannot really do its job: capture what it defends and the recapture would expose the king or a bigger piece. The Pin chapter teaches spotting a defender that is only pretending to defend, and piling more attackers onto a pin.
How do you trap a piece?
Take away its escape squares one at a time, usually with pawns, until an attack on it wins it outright. Queens and bishops that grabbed a pawn deep in enemy territory are the usual victims. The Trapped Pieces chapter covers no way home, closing the net and the greedy piece.
What is a double check?
A discovered check where the moving piece also gives check, so the king is attacked twice at once. Blocking or capturing cannot answer both, so the king must move - which makes double check the most forcing move in chess and the engine of many mating attacks. It has its own chapter here.
Which tactic should I look for first?
Checks, then captures, then threats - and inside those, the forcing motifs first: double check, discovered check, forks with check. The forcing ones limit your opponent's replies, which makes them the easiest to calculate to the end.
Are these puzzles from real games?
Yes. Every drill position in the section is from a played game, chosen by how often the motif appears at club level, and each chapter closes with a puzzle set of them plus a recap. The 35 lessons all carry a board task.
