LoA awareness

 I'm reading "the art of attack" of Vukovic again lately. An attack on the king seems to be a combination that is flexible. You mate the king OR you gain some wood OR you get a favourable endgame.

There is a lot to say about preparation, provocation and preconditions in connection to an attack. But for sure you need to develop an eye for lines of attack.

Black to move. Which LoA's do you see?

r3k2r/p1p1qppp/b1p2n2/3p4/1bP5/1PNQ2P1/P3PPBP/R1B1K2R b KQkq - 0 1

Black to move. Bb4 => Ke1

Black to move. Bb4 => c3 => Ra1

Black to move. Qe7 => Ke1

Black to move. Ba6 => e2

Black to move. Pawn d5 => d4 => Nc3

Black to move. Ra8 => d8 => Qd3

Only if you are aware of the 5 lines of attack, you can SEE how dangerous this position is. The lines of attack describe the route from attacker to target, via pivotal points, if any.

Further you can see the following pins: e2, Nc3 and c4 are pinned. The white queen is overloaded, since it must defend e2, Nc3 and the pivotal point d4.

Beware of the LoA's!!