ChessA decoy is giving up a piece as bait to force an enemy piece onto a square that's bad for it. The piece being lured is usually the king or the queen. The moment it lands on that square, the fork or mate you prepared is waiting. When you play chess free online and see a square next to the enemy king where "something bad would happen if the king stood there," think about whether you can lure it in.
What it looks like
Why does the black king have to take the rook? Because f8 is covered by the bishop on a3, h7 by the rook, and g7 and f7 hold its own pawns. The king has no choice but to step onto h8. And h8 is exactly a square the knight can hit from f7, with the queen on d8 as its second target.
White gives up a rook and gets a queen, plus a pawn. The rook is the bait, and h8 is the trap.
What you can lure in
Lure the king into a mating net
On g8 the black king was fairly safe. White uses a rook to drag it to h8, so the queen can check down the h-file. g7 is protected by the pawn on f6, so when the queen lands there, the king can't even take her.
Lure the queen, then fork with the knight
The key to this one: first find a square where the knight can fork (f6 hits both g8 and e8), then find a way to invite the queen to e8.
A real example: luring the king out
In the Two Knights Defense, if Black takes back on d5 with the knight, White can give up a knight to lure the black king out of its home:
White is a knight down, but the black king has been lured to e6 with nothing around it, where White's queen, bishop and knights can all come after it. That's a decoy: using one piece to drag the enemy king to the most dangerous spot. For more lines, see the Two Knights Defense.
How to defend
- When your opponent offers a piece, check which square you'll be standing on after you take. Can you be forked there? Can you be checked?
- Watch the squares the enemy knights can reach. Decoys most often set up a knight fork. Don't let your king and queen both stand where one knight can hit them.
- If you don't have to take, don't. If taking walks you into a trap, look for another answer, like moving away or blocking.
- Give your king a way out. If your king has free squares around it, a check can't force it to "take or nothing" into a trap.
Practice puzzles
Show answer
1. Rc8+ Qxc8 2. Ne7+ The rook goes to c8 with check, and the black queen has to take it. Then the knight jumps to e7, giving check and attacking the queen on c8. After the king moves, the knight takes the queen.
Show answer
1. Qxf7+ Kxf7 2. Ne5+ The white queen takes on f7 with check. The king can't go to f8 or g7 (the queen covers them), and h8 is covered by the bishop on c3, so it has to take the queen. Once the king is on f7, the knight jumps to e5, giving check and attacking the queen on d7.
Show answer
1. Qxh7+ Kxh7 2. Rh3# The queen takes on h7 with check. The king can't go to g8 (the knight covers it), so it has to take the queen. With the king on h7, the rook moves to h3 with check. g8 and g6 are covered by the knight, h8 and h6 by the rook. Checkmate.
FAQ
What's the difference between a decoy and a deflection?
They go in opposite directions. A decoy pulls an enemy piece onto a bad square. A deflection drags away an enemy defender, so it can no longer guard what it was guarding. Both are usually done by giving up a piece.
Does a decoy always involve a sacrifice?
Mostly, yes. Your opponent won't walk into a trap on his own, so you give up a piece he "has to" take. The best decoys come with check, so your opponent has no other choice.
Which piece usually gets lured?
The king most often, because a check can force it to move. Next is the queen, because she's worth the most, and luring her onto a forkable square wins the most.
Try it yourself
Decoys and the fork are a great team: first find the fork square, then find a way to send the enemy piece there. For more tactics, go back to chess tactics. To practice for real, play a game of chess vs the computer.