Three Ways Out

Part of the Fundamentals section of Coddy's Chess journey. Lesson 23 of 41.

Every answer to a check is one of exactly three moves: move the king, block the attack, or capture the attacker. One position shows all three. The white rook on e1 checks the black king, and the first way out is to step off the attacked e-file:

Black king in check from the rook on e1, with escape squares off the e-file

Way one: move. The king steps to d7, d8, f7 or f8, off the rook's file. Straight back to e7 would stay in the line of fire.

Way two: put one of your own pieces in the attacker's path. The bishop on a3 can land on e7, and the rook's line of attack stops dead at the roadblock:

The black bishop travels from a3 to e7 to block the rook's check

Way two: block. The bishop arrives on e7 and stands between the rook and the king.

Way three: remove the problem at the source. Black's far-away rook on a1 slides across the first rank and captures the checking rook on e1:

The black rook on a1 captures the white rook on e1 to end the check

Way three: capture. The black rook takes on e1, and with the attacker gone the check is gone.

Move, block, capture. When you are checked, run through the list in that order, every time, and you will never miss an escape. And when none of the three exists? Then the check has no answer, the king is trapped, and the game is over: checkmate, the subject of the next chapter.

Try it yourself

The rook on e1 checks the black king, and Black wants to block with the bishop on a3. Click the square the bishop must land on.