Week 109: what is a double attack in chess, and why I still miss them

A good week, finally. From March 10 to 15, 2026 I played eight games: 5 wins, 2 losses and a draw, and my rating climbed from 1212 to 1247 (+35), my best weekly gain since November. As Black I didn't lose once. But the review still found 21 blunders, and the most expensive one is a textbook case for a beginner's question: what is a double attack in chess, and how do you spot one when it's yours to play?

The week in numbers

One of the wins needs an asterisk: against evgeniianatolevich (1198) my opponent resigned before a single move was played, so the game has no accuracy at all. Two games were at 30 minutes instead of my usual 10: a 16-move win against LostDude420 (1216) that ended in mate, and a 46-move loss against the strongest opponent of the week, Azim1975 (1403).

The double attack I didn't play: game 1991

A double attack is one move that makes two threats at the same time. Your opponent can parry one, and you collect the other. Forks by knights and pawns are the famous kind, but rooks and queens do it all the time. Against Dokja_KF (1222), Black in a Pirc, I was winning on move 24 (−3.44).

. r . . . . . .
. . . . . p k p
. . r p . . p .
p . . P p . . .
. b . . N . . .
. . . . . . . .
P . P . . P P P
. R . . . R K .

24...Rc4 is the double attack: the rook hits the c2 pawn and the knight on e4, neither of which has a defender (−3.68, "black is winning"). I took the pawn straight away with 24...Rxc2, and the engine's reply 25.a3 attacks my bishop on b4 with a pawn; the position is about equal (+0.17). The difference between the two moves is the knight. Taking one pawn now is less than threatening a pawn and a knight. The game swung both ways after that — I was −6.93 again on move 26 and gave it back with 26...Rd4 — and it ended in a draw by insufficient material on move 67 (game).

A double attack that wasn't the best: game 1992

The next morning, against Kuppalhal (1200), I played a double attack — and it was the wrong move.

r . b q . r k .
p p p . p p b p
. . n p . . p .
. . . . . . . .
. . . P . P P .
P . N B . . . P
. P P . . P . .
R . . Q K . N R

9...e5 attacks d4 and f4, both pawns without a defender, and looks clever. But 9...Nxd4 just takes a pawn now and the engine rates it −4.00, "black is winning", against −1.57 after 9...e5 and 10.dxe5. A double attack gives the opponent a move to answer; a free capture doesn't. I won anyway, by resignation on move 35 (game).

Knight moves that let a win shrink: game 1993

With White against tonyloky (1213) I was winning by more than four pawns (+4.70) on move 12.

r . . q k b . r
p b p . . p . .
. p n p p . . p
. B . . . . . .
. . . P . . p .
. Q P . P N P .
P P . N . P P .
. . K R . . . R

12.Qa4 keeps the full advantage (+4.70); the engine's line continues 12...Ke7 13.Bxc6 Bxc6 14.Qxc6. 12.Nh2 attacks the g4 pawn and drops the edge to +0.63. Then three more knight moves (13.Nxg4, 14.Nh2, 16.Nhf3) were all marked as errors or blunders, before I finally played 18.Qa4 and winning when my opponent abandoned on move 28 (game).

The lesson of the week

A double attack is the cheapest tactic in chess: one move, two threats. I look for them as an attacker, but I miss them when I'm already winning and a single capture is available. My check for next week is to look at every capture and then ask, before playing it, whether a quieter move attacks the same target and something else at once. And the other way round: when a free piece or pawn is on offer, take it first and leave the clever double attack for later.

All games this week

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