What Is a Deflection in Chess?

How a deflection works

First find a defender with an important job. Then find a forcing move that makes it give up that job: a check it must capture, a piece it must take, or a threat that it alone can meet. Once it moves, you hit the thing it was guarding.

In the example the black rook guards the queen along the b-file. The rook check on e8 can only be answered by capturing, because Black's king is boxed in by its own pawns. Taking the rook pulls the defender off the file.

Deflection, decoy, and overloading

The three ideas overlap. A deflection pulls a piece away from where it is needed. A decoy pulls a piece onto a bad square, such as the king onto a fork square. An overloaded piece has two jobs and cannot do both, which often makes a deflection possible.

In the example the b8 rook is also overloaded: it guards both the queen and the back rank. That is why Qxb6 right away also wins, since Rxb6 would allow Re8 mate.

How to spot one

For each enemy piece, ask what it is guarding. If one piece is the only guard of something valuable, look for checks and captures that force that piece to move. Back-rank weakness is the most common helper, because it takes away the king's escape squares.

Common questions