Pin in chess
A pinned piece cannot move without exposing something more valuable behind it, so it can no longer be trusted as a defender.
A pin is an attack by a bishop, rook or queen along a line, where the enemy piece in front cannot move off the line without exposing a more valuable piece (or the king) behind it.
Absolute and relative pins
- Absolute pin: the king is behind. Moving the pinned piece off the line would expose the king to check, so the rules forbid it. A piece that moves along the line, such as a rook pinned on a file, can still step along it or capture the pinning piece, but a pinned knight cannot move at all. This is the strongest kind of pin.
- Relative pin: another piece is behind, usually one worth more than the pinned piece, such as the queen or a rook. The pinned piece can move, but doing so loses material, so in practice it usually stays.
What to do with a pin
A pin wins nothing by itself, but it gives you a target. The standard follow-up is to pile up on the pinned piece: attack it again with a pawn, a knight, another rook. It cannot safely move away, so each new attacker adds pressure, and a pawn attacking it usually wins material.
The classic pattern is Bg5 pinning a knight on f6 to the queen on d8. If White then gets in e4-e5, the pawn attacks a knight that cannot move away without exposing the queen.
A pinned defender guards less than it seems to. If a knight on f6 is pinned to the king, it cannot move, so it cannot recapture on h5, e4 or d5. Many combinations are built on that.
Breaking a pin
Four standard ways out:
- Attack the pinning piece, often with a pawn (h6 and g5 against a Bg5 pin).
- Block the line with a piece or pawn, as Be7 does between a knight on f6 and the queen on d8.
- Move the piece behind off the line, and the pin is gone.
- Create a bigger threat elsewhere so the pin never gets exploited.
Practice the pin
Reading about a pattern is not the same as spotting it under time pressure. The free chess puzzles trainer serves rated positions from real games and adjusts to your level as you solve. When you get one wrong, press Analyze once the puzzle is over to open it on the analysis board and see what you missed.
Related tactics
Skewer
A pin turned around: the valuable piece is in front, it must move, and the piece behind it falls.
Fork
One piece, two targets. On Lichess, more puzzles turn on the fork than on any other motif, over twice as many as on the pin. It is the first tactic worth mastering.
Deflection
A piece is doing an important job. Give it something it cannot refuse, and the job goes undone.
Frequently asked questions
What is a pin in chess?
An attack along a line (a rank, file or diagonal) where the attacked piece cannot move off the line without exposing a more valuable piece behind it. Only bishops, rooks and queens can pin.
Can a knight pin a piece?
No. A pin requires a line-moving piece: bishop, rook or queen. Knights and pawns can fork, but they cannot pin.
Can you capture a pinned piece with a pinned piece?
A piece under an absolute pin can capture only along the line of the pin, so the most it can take is the pinning piece itself. Any other capture would expose its own king and is illegal. A relatively pinned piece can capture anywhere, and sometimes should, if what it wins is worth more than the piece it exposes.