Attack

An offensive in a chess game, the most decisive way of achieving one's goal. The success of an attack depends on many positional factors:

• an advantage in the center or control of the central squares
• a more active placement of the pieces
• superior force in the sector of the board under attack
• weak points in the opponent's position, and so on

In other words, an attack does not arise spontaneously — it is the result of a carefully thought-out strategic plan.

Attack on the king

The targets of an attack can vary, but the chief one is the enemy king. Among attacks on the king, the following types stand out:

Type of attack	Features
Same-side castling	As a rule, with kings castled on the same side, the fight is carried out mainly with pieces
Opposite-side castling	A pawn storm is usually used to break up the king's cover
Against a king stuck in the center	This kind of attack arises when a poorly played opening leaves the king unable to find shelter on a flank

Other kinds of attack

The targets of a flank attack are weak pawns and vulnerable points in the opponent's camp that pieces can occupy to advantage. Rooks seizing open and half-open files is also of great importance for bringing an attack to a successful conclusion.

One typical kind of flank attack often seen in modern tournament practice is the so-called "minority attack".

Of course, this does not exhaust all the types of attack. A number of them are covered in the entries "Pawn structure" and "Pawn storm," while the means of achieving the goal, closely tied to a successful attack, are covered in the entry "Tactics."