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From vision to material

Loose pieces get punished.

Your piece vision already spots what attacks what. The simplest tactic of all is just acting on it: an enemy piece that's attacked and undefended is 'hanging' — so take it for free.

To judge a trade, use the rough point values. Winning a piece for nothing, or trading a smaller piece for a bigger one, puts material in the bank.

  • Values: pawn 1, knight 3, bishop 3, rook 5, queen 9.
  • Hanging = attacked AND undefended → take it for free.
  • Look for loose enemy pieces before anything fancy.
The rook attacks the bishop on e5 — and nothing defends it.

In the diagram, which black piece is hanging (attacked and undefended)?

Answer the question to keep going!