What is Overloading in chess?
Giving one defender too many jobs so it can't cover them all.
If a single piece is the only defender of two things, attack one - when it moves to defend, the other falls.
Spot overloading in your own games
Free. Chess2EZ finds the patterns you keep missing and explains each in plain English.
Analyze my games →More chess terms
- Removing the defenderCapturing or chasing away the piece that guards an important target.
- BatteryTwo pieces lined up on the same file, rank, or diagonal to multiply their force.
- WindmillAlternating checks from a rook and bishop that force the king back and forth while picking off material.
- X-ray attackA piece attacks or defends through another piece that stands in the way.
- DesperadoA piece that is going to be captured anyway, so it grabs as much material as possible before it dies.
- InterferencePlacing a piece on a square to cut the communication between two enemy pieces.