The Plachutta Device refers to a chess tactic used in problem-solving scenarios. It involves strategically sacrificing a piece to obstruct the opponent’s control over several distant squares simultaneously. For instance, when two bishops, a queen, or rooks of the opponent are defending specific positions through a common intersection square, placing an enemy unit on that square disrupts their coverage in such a manner that, even if the capturing piece is taken, the initial defensive arrangement cannot be restored.
The pattern was named after Joseph Plachutta, a chess player and problem composer, who lived in the 19th century in Croatia. Let’s see his famous study that introduced the mentioned tactic.