In the first of our instructive lessons for beginners, I stated that all the opening knowledge, strategy, and endgame skill in the world is useless if you let your opponents eat your pieces for free. Allow me to repeat a key paragraph from the previous lesson:

If you are afflicted with this “piece blunder” disease, you should ignore the siren call of your chess library until you find a cure. Fortunately, the cure is rather straightforward: play as many games as possible, but use each and every one as an exercise that will help you root out the hopeless habit of dropping your men. To accomplish this, you must understand the following bit of truth: Every undefended piece that stands on the fourth rank or further is at risk (pieces on the first, second, and third ranks must still be watched over, but they tend to be automatically guarded since they are so close to their own army)! Make sure these wandering pieces are protected or, at the very least, be aware of their plight and make sure nothing can swallow them up. Conversely, the undefended pieces of your opponent are like targets in a shooting gallery. Be on the lookout for the opportunities that your opponents will surely give you!

As a chess beginner (and we all were at one point or another!), you should concentrate on fully absorbing three bits of advice:

EVERY UNDEFENDED PIECE THAT STANDS ON THE FOURTH RANK OR FURTHER IS AT RISK!

MOST OF YOUR OPPONENTS WILL GIVE YOU OPPORTUNITIES TO DEVOUR THEIR PIECES FOR FREE. TRAIN YOUR EYE TO ALWAYS BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THESE “GIFTS.”

ALMOST ALL TACTICAL OPERATIONS (even very short ones) ARE BASED ON SOME FORM OF DOUBLE ATTACK. This concept is a bit advanced, but we’ll introduce it to you here and return to it many times in the future.

The following tests will show you whether you have absorbed the simple but oh-so-important lesson of “pieces in danger!”

Problem #1: Black to play. Can he safely capture White’s e4-pawn for free by 1…Nxe4?

The extremely tempting 1…Nxe4?? falls victim to an old but effective trap 2.Qa4+ (a powerful double attack against the Black King and the undefended Knight on e4) 2…Nc6 3.Qxe4, and White is up a piece for a pawn.

Problem #2: Black to play. White’s undefended d4-pawn seems ripe for the taking via 1…Qxd4. Would you take this pawn?

The pawn is poison because Black is placing his Queen on an unprotected advanced square (This isn’t always bad, but it should ALWAYS cause you concern!). After 1…Qxd4??, White wins by 2.Bb5+ (Attacking Black’s Queen with his own. The check prevents Black from getting his Queen to safety.) 2…Nc6 3.Bxc6+ (of course, 3.Qxd4 is also good since the c6-Knight is pinned and can’t recapture the Queen) 3…bxc6 4.Qxd4 and White has won the enemy Queen.

Problem #3: White to play. Attacking Black’s Knight by 1.e5 is very tempting. Should White try this advance?

If you liked 1.e5, you forgot our rule that all pieces and pawns on the fourth rank or beyond are potentially vulnerable. In this case, 1.e5?? allows Black to win a pawn for nothing by 1…Nxe5.

Problem #4: White to play. If you were given the choice between the following four moves (1.Nc3, 1.Bb5+, 1.h3, 1.Qxd6), which would you choose?

To many players, 1.h3 looks desirable since it apparently prevents nasty looking Black possibilities like …Bg4 or …Ng4. Unfortunately, if you chose this move you have succumbed to several misconceptions. First, White should be developing his pieces as quickly as possible, not defensively pushing pawns due to irrational fears (in chess, fears based on emotion rather than fact are called “ghosts”).

Second, …Bg4 or …Ng4 would still be possible since a White capture on g4 (via hxg4) would lose the undefended Rook via …Qxh1. Thus, your “defensive” move really achieved nothing at all!

Third, you have completely forgotten about your undefended e-pawn! After 1.h3, Black would hack off your key central bit by 1…Nxe4.

Having relegated 1.h3 to the rubbish heap, let’s take a look at the greedy 1.Qxd6. I’m all for greed, and want you to boldly take his stuff if he’s kind enough to hand it to you. However, here you have forgotten that 1.Qxd6?? loses right away to 1…Bxd6. Yes--the d6-pawn was defended after all!

Many of you might have picked 1.Bb5+ as White’s most logical choice. It develops, checks the Black King, and prepares to castle. Unfortunately, you have placed your Bishop on an undefended square (okay in itself, but always be aware of the unprotected nature of your pieces!) and completely blanked out the fact that Black’s Queen is just a jump away from b5! Thus, 1.Bb5+ fails badly to 1…Qxb5.

This leaves us with the correct 1.Nc3. This simple developing move defends e4 (a very important point!), and also eyes the advanced squares on b5 and d5. Play might continue 1…Be7 2.Be2 when White’s forces are coming out nicely, all his developed pieces and pawns are protected, and Black’s Queen isn’t comfortable facing off with against the e2-Bishop (Note that after 2.Be2, Black can’t try to pawn hungry 2…Qg6?? since 3.Nh4 wins copious amounts of material).

Problem #5: White to play. Can White safely eat the unprotected pawn on e5?

Black has failed to defend his pawn and White SHOULD punish him by 1.Nxe5. True, the Knight is undefended on this square, so a careful look is necessary before chopping off the enemy e-pawn. However, in this case all is well and White can safely absorb his meal and then get his Knight to safety by 2.d4 (defending the horse) or 2.Nf3 (the hero returns home!).