X-ray

An x-ray is a line of attack from a bishop, rook, or queen through one piece toward another piece or a key square behind it. The front piece blocks the line optically; the battery is still there.

Why you should notice it

Discovery tactics, pins, and sudden recaptures often start from a line you did not name. If you stop looking when a piece sits in the way, you miss the relationship that should make you calculate.

When to check it

During threat assessment, which x-rays does the opponent have against you? While finding a move, which x-rays do you have against them? Useful x-ray then asks which of those lines actually matter.

Why players miss it during games

You see the piece in the way and stop looking. Puzzle “find the pin” already highlights the motif. In a game the line often appeared two moves ago when a pawn captured.

How WayChess trains it

You mark x-rays for both sides with feedback on whether the line is real. Completeness matters: both sides have them.

Related checks

Useful x-ray filters the lines that actually threaten something you should act on. Queen attack is a narrower scan of the queen’s real shots along those same long lines.

See all habits.