Decoy in chess: how it works
Lure an enemy piece onto a bad square where it can be exploited.
A decoy is a sacrifice that lures an enemy piece - usually the king - onto a specific square where it gets forked, checkmated, or trapped. You are not just attacking; you are choosing exactly where you want the enemy piece to land.
Decoys most often appear in attacking combinations near the enemy king. A queen or rook sacrifice on a square forces the king to capture, and then a follow-up move delivers checkmate or wins the queen.
The key question for a decoy is: if I put a piece here, will my opponent be forced to take it, and what happens then?
Decoy examples
Bishop sacrifice on h7: luring the king to a dangerous square
White sacrifices the bishop with Bxh7+. The black king is forced to capture (Kxh7) - the king has been decoyed to h7. Now white plays Ng5+ (check), driving the king to g6 or h6, and then the queen joins the attack with Qh5+. The whole combination works because white chose exactly where to lure the king before launching the follow-up threats.
Queen sacrifice on h8 forces the rook to abandon the h-file
White plays Qh8+! sacrificing the queen. The black rook on f8 is forced to take (Rxh8) to stop check. But now the white rook on h1 plays Rxh8# - checkmate! The queen sacrifice was a decoy: it pulled the defending rook to h8, and then the white rook delivered the final blow. Sacrificing the queen feels scary, but when the follow-up is forced checkmate, it is the winning move.
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