Undermining (chess) Undermining (chess) Undermining (also known as removal of the guard, or removing the defender) is a chess tactic in which a defensive piece is captured, leaving one of the opponent's pieces undefended or under-defended. The opponent has the unpalatable choice of recapturing or saving the undefended piece. A possible response is to sacrifice the piece whose defense was undermined before capturing the piece which just took the defender. Kramnik–Topalov in the seventh round of the 2004 Linares chess tournament reached the diagrammed position with White to play. The black knight on a4 is defended only by the black pawn on
Dabbaba (chess) Dabbaba (chess) A dabbaba (or dabaaba, dabbabah) is a fairy chess piece that jumps two squares orthogonally (the directions a chess rook can move), leaping over any intermediate piece. In notation, it is given the symbol D. The dabbaba is a very old piece, appearing in some very early chess variants, such as Tamerlane chess. The name "dabbaba" (Arabic: دَبَّابَة) means "tank (vehicle)" in Modern Arabic. In older Arabic, it referred to a type of medieval siege engine designed to shelter men who are digging a hole in enemy fortifications (Latin: "vinea"). The name has sometimes been translated as "war