ChessRanger
Tactics

King hunt

Driving the enemy king out into the open and chasing it to mate with a series of checks.

A king hunt is an attack that flushes the king from its shelter — often via a sacrifice — and then herds it up the board with checks until it's mated or material is won. The defender's king becomes the target, dragged into a net woven by the attacker's pieces.

The art is calculating the forcing sequence: each check must limit the king's squares and bring another attacker into play. Famous brilliancies are king hunts where a queen or rook sacrifice opens the king and a quiet net closes around it.

Why it matters

King hunts are the most decisive attacks in chess — spotting when a sacrifice exposes the king to a forced march is how brilliant wins are made.

The mistake everyone makes

Sacrificing to open the king without calculating the checks to the end, so the hunt fizzles and you're just down material.

Related terms

Sacrifice
Giving up material on purpose for a larger gain — mate, more material, or a winning attack.
Greek gift
The classic bishop sacrifice on h7 (or h2) to rip open a castled king.
King safety
How exposed your king is to attack — usually the most important factor in the middlegame.
Combination
A forcing sequence of moves — usually with a sacrifice — that wins by force.

See King hunt in your own games

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