apex64 Coach
Decoy
What it is
A decoy (or attraction) drags an enemy piece to a square where it becomes vulnerable — typically with a sacrifice that the opponent must accept, luring the king or queen into a fork, pin, or mate.
When to use it
Use it when the enemy king or a key piece is one square away from disaster, and you can force it onto that fatal square.
How to use it
Look for a sacrifice — a check or a capture the opponent must recapture — that plants their piece on the losing square. Then land the follow-up: the knight fork, the discovered check, or the mating blow that the new position allows.
Worked examples
Watch the coach play the tactic from real master games.