Figure 3.3.3.4[White to move]

This position requires the same type of decision yet again. It is White who has the makings of a discovered attack a couple of different ways; his queen’s path is masked in one direction by his bishop and in another by his knight. The direction of greatest interest is the one with a good target at the end of it, so White focuses on Black’s knight on d5. It's attacked once and defended once. If White were to give check with his own knight—say, with Nxf6—he could then take the d5 knight with his rook. But his own knight would be lost in the process, resulting in a gain of only a pawn. Since the Black knight is guarded by Black’s queen, which would make a perfect target, the better sequence thus starts with a preliminary exchange: 1. RxN—and now if Black plays QxR, White has the discovered attack Nxf6+, taking Black's queen and turning a tidier profit.