Get your eye in -- basic practice in noticing attacks

Chess is the art of noticing...

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  1. On an empty chess board, put all the white pieces (not the pawns) on a chess board so that all the pieces are defended by at least one other piece. Easy -- even I could do it! (DIAGRAM)

  2. On an empty chess board, put all the white pieces (not the pawns) on a chess board so that all the pieces are defended by at least one other piece and are also defending at least one other piece

  3. On an empty chess board, put all the white pieces (not the pawns) on a chess board so that all the pieces are defended by EXACTLY one other piece and are also defending EXACTLY one other piece. Tricky!

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  1. On an empty board, add as many black pieces as you can so that no black piece is defending any other black piece. The diagram just uses one set; how many pieces can you add from another set? Try the king or knights first!

  2. Try again, but you can use any pieces you want from any set, and you can leave out the queen (so you could have a whole rank full of knights!)

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  1. Put all the white pieces from one set on the board so they attack as many squares as possible

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  1. Put all the white pieces from one set on the board so they attack as FEW squares as possible

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  1. On an empty chess board, and using one set, put as many white and black pieces (no pawns) on the same chess board as you can, so that every black piece is being attacked and no black piece is being defended, while no white piece is being attacked, and every white piece is attacking at least one black piece.


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  1. That time I managed 7 Black and 8 white -- Can you find an arrangement including the black queen?

  2. Now, can you find one with all the pieces from one set where all the white pieces are attacking AND all defended AND not attacked, and the black ones all attacked and undefended?

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