Inchess, awindmill (orseesaw)[1][2] is atactic in which a piece repeatedly gainsmaterial while simultaneously creating an inescapable series of alternating direct anddiscoveredchecks. Because the opponent must attend to check every move, they are unable to prevent their pieces from being captured; thus, windmills, while very rare, tend to be extremely powerful.
A windmill most commonly consists of arook supported by abishop. The bishop typically sits on the long diagonal (seeFianchetto), while the rook moves to the seventh (White) or second (Black) rank and checks the king, who is forced to the corner due to a friendly piece (usually a knight, but it can also be another rook) blocking it. Moving the rook leads to adiscovered check by the bishop, giving the player a tempo by forcing their opponent to move the king. The rook then moves back to its original spot, and the process repeats until no more pieces can be captured. Windmills can also be done with other pieces, as seen in theGame of the Century.
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In the position diagrammed, from the gameCarlos Torre–Emanuel Lasker, Moscow 1925,[3] Whitesacrifices hisqueen in order to set up the windmill:
Black must accept the sacrifice, as his own queen is unprotected, 25...g5 26.Qxh6 leads to unstoppable mate on g7 or h8, and any other attempt to stop the windmill would simply give White the queen.
White gives discovered check by the bishop.
White simply repeats the checking cycle, capturing as many pieces as he can with his rook.
White concludes the windmill by taking the black queen. Black forked White's rook and bishop with 32... Kg6, but White still emerged three pawns ahead after 33.Rh3 Kxf6 34.Rxh6+ and went on to win.
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The Game of the Century featured a windmill involving aknight and a bishop. The game continued from the diagrammed position as follows:
Black sacrifices his queen in order to initiate an attack.
Accepting the sacrifice allows Black to set up the windmill.
Black emerges with an overwhelming advantage.
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