If you are playing Black in this game, you have a simple defense. Don’t launch the fried liver if your opponent has not developed his Knight to f6.Watch for an opportunity to use this effective tactic.Would you prefer to be a Pawn or a Rook ahead? In contrast, taking with the Knight leads to winning a Rook or a Queen. However, when the King moves out of check, your attack is over and you have only won a Pawn. Now a common question is, “Why not take on f7 with the Bishop instead of the Knight as shown in the image below?” Some people are tempted to capture with the Bishop because it will put the enemy in check. After the move Ng5, White is threatening Nxf7, capturing a Pawn and forking two of Black’s major pieces – the d8 Queen and the h8 Rook. It’s vital that Black has played Nf6, otherwise, disaster strikes, because the black Queen can simply chop your Knight off. If Black now plays Nf6, White can launch the fabulous Fried Liver attack. If you are playing White, you start with three sensible developing moves ( e4, Nf3, Bc4 ). It’s really very simple to arrive at the Fried Liver Attack. Just like the Four-Move checkmate, it takes advantage of the weak square on f7. The strange name of this tactic actually comes from an Italian saying “ dead as fried liver” which perfectly describes the lethal result of this move if it is played correctly. Other Common Chess Tactics (Forks, Pins and Skewers).
“Tactics thrive in a superior position.” These are the words of the great Garry Kasparov.
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