Tactics
What is a Windmill in chess?
- Discovered
- Repeat
- Material
A repeating discovered-check pattern that wins material move after move.
Where the term comes from
Named for the way the attacking pieces rotate, checking and capturing in turn while the defending king shuffles helplessly. The most famous example is Carlos Torre's win over Emanuel Lasker at Moscow in 1925, which is why the pattern is sometimes just called 'the Torre windmill'.
Windmill FAQ
What is a windmill in chess?
A repeating discovered-check pattern that wins material move after move.
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.
Builds on
Related terms
Free game review
See where windmill 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.
