Tactics
What is a Pin in chess?
- Line
- Pressure
- Tactic
A line tactic where moving the front piece would expose a more valuable piece or the king behind it.
What to look for on the board
- A rook, bishop, or queen lined up with two enemy pieces.
- The back piece is a king, queen, rook, or mate square.
- The front piece has fewer legal or safe moves than it appears.
Examples
- A knight pinned to its king cannot legally move.
- A bishop pinning a knight to a queen creates pressure even if the knight can still move.
Where the term comes from
Pins and skewers are the same geometry seen from opposite ends: a line piece attacking two units at once. The distinction between an absolute pin, against the king, and a relative pin, against anything else, matters because only the absolute one is enforced by the rules.
Pin FAQ
What is a pin in chess?
A line tactic where moving the front piece would expose a more valuable piece or the king behind it.
How do you spot a pin on the board?
Look for: A rook, bishop, or queen lined up with two enemy pieces.; The back piece is a king, queen, rook, or mate square.; The front piece has fewer legal or safe moves than it appears..
What is the most common mistake with a pin?
Seeing a pin and immediately attacking it, even when the pinned piece is already harmless.
How do you get better at using a pin?
Do not tag every pinned piece as the tactic. The puzzle is a pin puzzle only when the solution uses the pin.
Train this pattern on your own games
Reading a definition is not the same as spotting the pattern with a clock running. Chessiro's free game review runs Stockfish 18 over every move you play, names the concept behind each mistake, and turns the positions where it cost you into training puzzles. You can also see the idea in action in the classic games collection, where the greatest players in history demonstrate it.
Types and patterns
Related terms
Free game review
See where pin decides your games
Chessiro reviews your games with an AI coach that names the concept behind every mistake, then drills you on the exact positions where it happened until you stop repeating them.
