Decoy in chess
Do not chase the king. Invite it - onto a square where a knight is waiting.
A decoy (or attraction) forces an enemy piece or the king onto a particular square, where it becomes vulnerable to a fork, pin, skewer or mate.
The idea
A decoy is usually a sacrifice, because the only way to make an opponent stand on a bad square is to offer something they are compelled to take. The material is the price of the geometry.
The most common form is dragging the king out: a check or a capture on a square adjacent to the king forces Kxsomething, and the king now stands on a square where a knight fork or a second check finishes the job.
The strongest decoys are found by working backwards. Imagine the enemy king on the square you want it on, find the winning move from there, and only then ask how to force it to that square.
Standard decoy patterns
- The greek gift (Bxh7+) - the bishop sacrifice drags the king to h7 where Ng5+ and Qh5 follow.
- Queen sacrifice for a knight fork - give the queen on a square where recapture puts the king or another piece on a forking square.
- Decoy to the back rank - force a defender onto the rank where it can be mated or skewered.
- Promotion decoys - promoting with check to a square that pulls the king into a mating net.
Decoy versus deflection
Both use a sacrifice to move an enemy piece, and many tactics are both at once. The useful mental split is: a deflection cares about the square the piece leaves; a decoy cares about the square it arrives on.
Practise the decoy
Reading about a pattern is not the same as seeing it under time pressure. The puzzle trainer serves rated positions taken from real games, adjusting to your level as you solve - and any puzzle you get wrong opens on the full analysis board in one click, so you can find out exactly what you missed.
Related tactics
Deflection
A piece is doing an important job. Give it something it cannot refuse, and the job goes undone.
Fork
One piece, two targets. The fork is the most common winning tactic in chess and the first one worth mastering.
Discovered attack
Move one piece and a completely different piece delivers the threat. Two attacks for the price of one move.
Frequently asked questions
What is a decoy in chess?
A sacrifice or forcing move that lures an enemy piece - very often the king - onto a specific square, where a follow-up tactic wins material or delivers mate.
Is a decoy the same as an attraction?
Yes. "Attraction" is the more common term in some chess literature and puzzle databases, but it describes the same tactic.