Removing the defender means capturing or trading off the piece that guards a target, so that the target is left undefended and can be taken.
A piece or a key square is only safe because something defends it. If you can eliminate that defender — by capturing it, or by trading it for one of your own pieces — the protection vanishes.
This differs from deflection, where you merely force the guard to move: here you take the guard off the board entirely. It’s one of the most reliable ways to win a pawn or a piece, especially when a target is held by just a single defender.
Whenever you eye an enemy piece you’d love to win, count its defenders and ask whether you can knock out the one that matters. Removing it turns a protected piece into a free one.
They’re close cousins. Removing the defender captures or trades the guard off the board; a deflection only forces it to move. Either way the defended target is left to be won.
Before grabbing a defended piece, count its defenders and attackers. If one defender is doing all the work, look for a way to capture or trade it — then the target is free.
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