Zwischenzug

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In chess, zwischenzug (German for "intermediate move") is a common tactic that occurs in almost every game.

Zwischenzug is where one player threatens the other and, instead of countering the direct threat from player one (as expected), player two plays a move which poses an even more serious threat to player one. The first player must then counter the threat from player two, which will ideally change the entire situation to the second player's advantage. Such moves are also called intermezzos.