A forcing move in chess is any move that forces a player to respond on their next turn. These may be checks, captures, or threats. While only a check leaves a player with no choice but to stop the attack, captures and threats can also force an opponent’s hand if the cost of ignoring the move is too high to accept.
There are a number of ways forcing moves can be used to damage an opponent: delaying their development, triggering a bad trade, and revoking castling rights, just to name a few. In this game, we’ll see how 16th century Italian chess master Gioachino Greco used a series of forcing moves to slow his opponent’s progress and allow for an easy checkmate.
Greco's Forcing Moves
Greco played White in this game.
The opening goes smoothly for both players until Greco pushes his d-pawn to fork Black’s bishop and e-pawn, which causes Black to spend a turn moving the bishop to safety. Greco takes advantage of the delay and develops his own bishop to g5, attacking the queen. Black is forced to respond and decides to block the attack with their f-pawn. Greco moves his bishop back to save it from capture.
Though Black tries to respond with their own forcing move – an attack on the bishop with the g-pawn – Greco gives up his knight to make way for a check with his queen, which sends the black king to d7. All four of his remaining moves are forcing moves: first an attack on the black queen, then a series of checks that result in checkmate. Black loses the game before they have the chance to complete all three opening principles.
Conclusion
Forcing moves are key to strong offensive play, and young players should evaluate their options each turn to see what forcing moves may be available to them. Similarly, players should always examine their opponent’s latest move to see if any threats were created that require a response.
