Discovered attacks in chess
Stockfish 16.1 · runs in your browserPlay Bd3+. Moving the bishop uncovers the rook on e1, which checks the king on e8.
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Commentary
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Best move
A discovered attack happens when one piece moves away and opens another piece's line. Here moving a bishop uncovers a rook check. The piece that moves and the piece whose line opens can create separate threats.
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Rules and examples
The board positions are original teaching examples. Rule references and further practice are linked below.
Rules: FIDE Laws of Chess, effective 1 January 2023. https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/E012023
Rule replay: python-chess 1.11.2 (GPL-3.0-or-later). The shared browser engine retains its Stockfish GPL-3.0 notice. No engine score is claimed by these demonstrations.
See the referenceA move on the board
4k3/8/8/8/8/8/4B3/K3R3 w - - 0 1
4k3/8/8/8/8/3B4/8/K3R3 b - - 1 1
- Bd3+Moving the bishop uncovers the rook on e1, which checks the king on e8.
Moving the bishop uncovers the rook on e1, which checks the king on e8.
Original teaching example replayed with python-chess 1.11.2, 2026-10-18.
Analysis runs on Stockfish 16.1 in your browser, compiled to WebAssembly by stockfish.js. Stockfish is free software under the GNU General Public License v3; its source code is on GitHub.