A discovered attack happens when you move one piece out of the way and uncover an attack by another piece behind it. The piece that moves can make a threat of its own, so one move creates two. Every puzzle on this page involves a discovered attack, comes from a real game and is matched to your puzzle rating.
You need two pieces on one line: a bishop, rook or queen at the back, and one of your own pieces in front blocking it. When the front piece moves, the line opens and the back piece attacks whatever is at the far end. Meanwhile the front piece lands wherever it likes, ideally with a second threat.
That is why discovered attacks are so strong. The opponent sees one threat coming from the piece that moved and often misses the other one coming from a piece that did not move at all.
When the uncovered line hits the king, it is a discovered check. The opponent must deal with the check, so the piece that moved is free to do almost anything: capture the queen, take a rook, or land on a square where it would normally be lost.
When the piece that moves also gives check, it is a double check. A double check cannot be blocked and both checking pieces cannot be captured with one move, so the only answer is to move the king.
Look for your line pieces aimed at the enemy king or queen through one of your own pieces. That front piece is loaded: any move it makes fires the line. The question is then where it can go to do the most damage, usually a capture, a check or an attack on a second loose piece.
Do the same for your opponent. If their bishop, rook or queen points at your king or queen through one of their own pieces, you are one move away from a discovered attack. Move the target, block the line, or make sure the front piece has nowhere useful to go.
The first is moving the front piece to a harmless square and wasting the discovery. The second is forgetting that the piece at the back needs to be safe too: if the opponent can answer the discovery by capturing it, much of the threat disappears. The third is missing that a pawn can be the front piece. A single pawn push can open a bishop's diagonal and make a threat of its own at the same time.
Solve these puzzles until the loaded line is the first thing you notice. When you are stuck, the first hint shows which piece to move, which is usually the front piece; your job is then to find its best square. After you solve, the full line appears beside the board. Discovered attacks sit close to pins and skewers, since all three are about lines, and the moving piece often makes a fork.
For mixed tactics at your level, use Puzzle Training. For speed, try Puzzle Storm, and to repeat a fixed set until it is automatic, the Woodpecker Method. Elo Maxing rates you on every tactical motif and serves the weakest next, and Pattern Drill builds practice from the patterns your own games show you miss. For tips on solving under time pressure, read puzzle rush tips.
A move that uncovers an attack by a bishop, rook or queen standing behind the piece that moved, often creating two threats at once.
A discovered attack where the uncovered line gives check. The opponent must answer the check, which leaves the piece that moved free to win material.
Because two pieces give check at once. It cannot be blocked or answered by one capture, so the king has to move.
Yes. A pawn can be the front piece: moving it opens the line behind it, and the pawn can make a threat of its own.