chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

, a windmill (or seesaw) is a tactic in which a piece repeatedly gains while simultaneously creating an inescapable series of alternating direct and discovered checks. Because the opponent must attend to check every move, they are unable to prevent their pieces from being captured; thus, windmills can be extremely powerful. A windmill most commonly consists of a

rook Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to: Games *Rook (chess), a piece in chess *Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game Military * Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft * USS ...

supported by a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

Examples

Torre vs. Lasker

In the position diagrammed, from the game Carlos Torre–

Emanuel Lasker Emanuel Lasker (; December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years, from 1894 to 1921, the longest reign of any officially recognised World Chess Cham ...

, Moscow 1925, White

sacrifices Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exis ...

his

queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

in order to set up the windmill: : 25. Bf6 Black must accept the sacrifice, as his own queen is unprotected, and any attempt to stop the windmill would simply give White the queen. : 25... Qxh5 26. Rxg7+ Kh8 27. Rxf7+ White gives discovered check by the bishop. : 27... Kg8 28. Rg7+ Kh8 29. Rxb7+ White simply repeats the checking cycle, capturing as many pieces as he can with his rook. : 29... Kg8 30. Rg7+ Kh8 31. Rg5+ Kh7 32. Rxh5 White concludes the windmill by taking the black queen. White has emerged with a material advantage, leading to a winning endgame.

Byrne vs. Fischer

The Game of the Century featured a windmill involving a

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

and a bishop. The game continued from the diagrammed position as follows: : 17... Be6!! Black sacrifices his queen in order to initiate an attack. : 18. Bxb6 Accepting the sacrifice allows Black to set up the windmill. : 18... Bxc4+ 19. Kg1 Ne2+ 20. Kf1 Nxd4+ 21. Kg1 Ne2+ 22. Kf1 Nc3+ 23. Kg1 axb6 Black emerges with an overwhelming advantage.

References

{{chess Chess tactics Chess terminology