A deflection lures a defender away from its job; a decoy lures a piece onto a bad square. Both usually start with a sacrifice.
Key principles
- Find the overloaded defender: the piece doing two jobs
- A check or capture forces the defender to respond
- Decoys bring the king onto a forking or mating square
Common mistakes
- Sacrificing when the defender can ignore the bait
- Missing that another piece takes over the defence