Part of the Tactics & Checkmates JourneyPopularJourneyChess 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.
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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 sectionStartExpandCollapseThe 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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January 2026
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Double or Nothing
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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?
What is the pinned defender?
How do you trap a piece?
What is a double check?
Which tactic should I look for first?
Are these puzzles from real games?
