Week 9 — Removing the Defender
Quick coach reference for the 10 student puzzles.
Coach answer key — 10 exercises
The continuation shown is one clean legal line. In several positions the checked king has more than one safe square; the tactical result is unchanged.
Puzzle 1 — White to move
Hint: The black queen is defended once. Can you capture that defender with check?
Correct move: 1. Nxd7+
Continuation: After a king move such as 1...Kg8, 2.Bxf6 wins the queen.
The knight on d7 was guarding f6. Nxd7+ removes that guard and forces Black to answer the check.
Source/reference: Original teaching position; beginner level.
Puzzle 2 — Black to move
Hint: Which white piece protects the queen on c4? Find a capture that checks the king too.
Correct move: 1... Nxe3+
Continuation: After a king move such as 2.Ke1, 2...Bxc4 wins the queen.
The e3-knight is the queen’s defender. Black removes it with check, so the queen cannot run away.
Source/reference: Original teaching position; beginner level.
Puzzle 3 — White to move
Hint: The rook on h6 has one bishop guard. Can your knight take that guard with check?
Correct move: 1. Nxg7+
Continuation: After a king move such as 1...Kf7, 2.Qxh6 wins the rook.
The bishop on g7 protects h6. Nxg7+ removes it and gains a tempo by checking the king.
Source/reference: Original teaching position; beginner level.
Puzzle 4 — Black to move
Hint: The rook on a4 is protected by a bishop. Look for a knight capture with check.
Correct move: 1... Nxc2+
Continuation: After a king move such as 2.Kf1, 2...Qxa4 wins the rook.
The bishop on c2 was guarding a4. The knight captures that defender with check; then the queen takes the rook.
Source/reference: Original teaching position; beginner level.
Puzzle 5 — White to move
Hint: What guards the bishop on c6? Can your knight remove it with check?
Correct move: 1. Nxe7+
Continuation: After a king move such as 1...Kf7, 2.Rxc6 wins the bishop.
The e7-knight is the bishop’s defender. Nxe7+ removes it and forces a king response.
Source/reference: Original teaching position; beginner level.
Puzzle 6 — Black to move
Hint: The knight on h4 is protected once. Can you capture its bishop defender with check?
Correct move: 1... Nxf2+
Continuation: After 2.Kg1, 2...Rxh4 wins the knight.
The bishop on f2 was the knight’s only guard. Black removes it with check and then the rook collects h4.
Source/reference: Original teaching position; beginner level.
Puzzle 7 — White to move
Hint: The queen on a6 is defended along a diagonal. Which defender can your knight capture with check?
Correct move: 1. Nxc8+
Continuation: After a king move such as 1...Kf7, 2.Rxa6 wins the queen.
The bishop on c8 is the queen’s defender. Nxc8+ removes it while checking the king.
Source/reference: Original teaching position; beginner level.
Puzzle 8 — Black to move
Hint: The white queen has a rook guard behind it. Can the knight take that rook with check?
Correct move: 1... Nxg1+
Continuation: After a king move such as 2.Kf2, 2...Bxg4 wins the queen.
The rook on g1 protects g4. Black removes the rook with check, then the bishop takes the queen.
Source/reference: Original teaching position; slightly harder beginner level.
Puzzle 9 — White to move
Hint: A pawn is defending the rook. Which knight capture removes that pawn and checks the king?
Correct move: 1. Nxf6+
Continuation: After a king move such as 1...Kg6, 2.Bxe5 wins the rook.
The f6-pawn guards e5. Nxf6+ removes the guard with tempo; the bishop then takes the rook.
Source/reference: Original teaching position; slightly harder beginner level.
Puzzle 10 — Black to move
Hint: The rook on d4 is protected by a pawn. Can your knight capture that pawn with check?
Correct move: 1... Nxc3+
Continuation: After a king move such as 2.Kf3, 2...Bxd4 wins the rook.
The c3-pawn is the rook’s defender. Nxc3+ removes it and forces the king to respond before the rook can be saved.
Source/reference: Original teaching position; slightly harder beginner level.
Sources and provenance
https://www.chessgo.in/puzzles/capturing-defender
Used as the preferred topical puzzle source and for the theme description. The retrievable page did not expose sufficiently reliable board/FEN/solution data for its generated puzzles, so no exercise in this package is claimed to be copied or derived from a ChessGo puzzle. Download/licensing status is not asserted.
https://www.chessgo.in/articles/capturing-defender
Concept adapted: capture a defender, overloading a defender, and the warning that the tactic must be calculated. No diagram in this package is claimed as a source position from the article.
https://www.chesskid.com/learn/articles/many-ways-to-remove-the-guard
Concept adapted: a defender can be captured, decoyed, or deflected; use forcing moves and check that a sacrifice earns something back.
https://www.chesskid.com/learn/articles/attacks-and-defenses-part-two2
Concept adapted: exchange, chase, deflect, or pin a defender; move order matters.
https://www.chess.com/terms/removing-the-defender-chess
Concept adapted: removing a piece that performs a defensive role can lead to material gain, access to key squares, or checkmate.
All 10 worked diagrams and all 10 student exercises are original teaching positions created for this lesson and redrawn as inline SVG. The exercise set is calibrated to Easiest/Beginner level rather than attributed to ChessGo’s generated positions.