Hi! This is Pomi. And now I'm going to show you two important chess tactics you have to know, which are the and the Pins and the Skewers.
What are those two terms?
Pin:
The pin is a very fundamental tactic in chess that consists on restricting the move of one or more pieces of your opponent. When you attack two aligned pieces, and the most important is back, so he can't move the front piece. Look at this example:
What is an Absolute Pin?
An absolute pin is when a piece is covering an attack on the king, and you pin the front piece. So it can't move, because if it moves, it will be in check. Look at this example:
Skewer:
The skewer is a tactic that consists on forcing a piece to move, so you can take advantage of that, sometimes gaining material, or making a forced checkmate, sometimes making a trap, etc. It happens when you attack the file or diagonal where your opponent's pieces are aligned up. In a skewer, the most valuable piece is attacked first, so it will have to move and then you can take the piece behind it, or do the thing you wanted to do (create a trap or a forced mate, etc.)
Look at this another example:
What's the difference of the skewer and the pin?
A skewer is like a pin, there just one difference. In a skewer, the most valuable piece is the one that you're attacking directly, while a less valuable piece is behind it. In a pin, is the opposite. You're attacking the less valuable piece directly, while a more valauable biece stands behind it.
Why are those two tactics important?
The skewer is very dangerous, because it can help you a lot to win material. The pin is very useful because it reduces your opponent candidate moves, and you can better predict the next move. It also helps to win material.
Puzzles:
Find a way to gain material with a pin.
We can take the b6 Knight with a pin. Can you find the way to do it?
You can win a Rook and a Pawn by a Knight, with a skewer. Find the way to do it.
Look at this board. It seems that we are slightly better. But there's a trap to take the Black's Queen. Try to find it.
Thanks for reading! I hope you can use this in your games!
Also, thanks @tsrif1 for helping me with the article
!
Hi! This is Pomi. And now I'm going to show you two important chess tactics you have to know, which are the and the Pins and the Skewers.
What are those two terms?
Pin:
The pin is a very fundamental tactic in chess that consists on restricting the move of one or more pieces of your opponent. When you attack two aligned pieces, and the most important is back, so he can't move the front piece. Look at this example:
Skewer:
The skewer is a tactic that consists on forcing a piece to move, so you can take advantage of that, sometimes gaining material, or making a forced checkmate, sometimes making a trap, etc. It happens when you attack the file or diagonal where your opponent's pieces are aligned up. In a skewer, the most valuable piece is attacked first, so it will have to move and then you can take the piece behind it, or do the thing you wanted to do (create a trap or a forced mate, etc.)