Every Day Chess › Tactics › Pin
Chess Pin Tactic
A pin is when a piece cannot (or should not) move because moving it would expose a more valuable piece sitting directly behind it on the same rank, file, or diagonal. Pins are one of the most powerful positional weapons in chess: the pinned piece is temporarily paralysed, and once you understand how to exploit that paralysis, you will find winning combinations everywhere.
Absolute pin versus relative pin
There are two types of pin, and knowing the difference changes how you handle them.
Absolute pin
An absolute pin is one where the piece behind is the king. The pinned piece cannot legally move at all, because doing so would leave the king in check. This is the strongest form of pin: the opponent is not choosing to keep the piece in place, they are forced to. You can attack the pinned piece without fear of it moving, and you can pile more attackers onto it to win material.
Relative pin
A relative pin is one where the piece behind is valuable (usually the queen) but not the king. The opponent can legally move the pinned piece, but doing so would lose the piece behind it. Relative pins are weaker because the opponent has options: break the pin by moving the piece behind, interpose a less valuable piece, or ignore the pin and let the valuable piece shift. The threat must be strong enough that none of these options save them.
How to create a pin
Any piece that moves in straight lines — bishop, rook, or queen — can create a pin. The pattern requires three pieces in a line: your pinning piece at one end, the opponent's piece in the middle, and the target piece (king or queen) at the far end. To create a pin, move your bishop, rook, or queen to a square where the opponent's piece stands between it and their king (for an absolute pin) or queen (for a relative pin). The best pins put the pinned piece under immediate pressure — attacked but unable to flee.
The bishop pin
The most common pin is a bishop along a diagonal. Develop your bishop to a square where it pins a knight or bishop against the opponent's king. This is especially powerful before the opponent has castled: a bishop on g5 pinning a knight on f6 against the king on e8 prevents the knight from defending the centre and makes castling awkward.
The rook pin
A rook pin works along ranks and files. The classic is a rook on the seventh rank pinning a pawn or piece against the opponent's back-rank king. Rook pins are often endgame weapons: the rook cuts the king off while pressuring a piece that cannot move.
How to exploit a pin
Once a piece is pinned, three ideas win material:
- Attack the pinned piece with a less valuable piece. If a pinned knight is currently attacked only by your bishop, bring a pawn or another piece to attack it. The opponent cannot move the knight, so it will be captured.
- Attack what the pinned piece was defending. A pinned piece cannot fulfil its defensive duties. If the opponent's knight was pinned to their king and that knight was also defending their e5 pawn, you can capture the pawn immediately.
- Increase the pressure on the pin with more attackers. If you can keep adding attackers to the pinned piece faster than the opponent can add defenders, eventually you win it cleanly.
Try three pin puzzles
Here are three positions where a pin creates or decides the outcome. Tap a piece, then tap its destination — the same board and rules as the full workout.
How to escape a pin
When you are pinned, resist the instinct to panic. There are usually more options than it appears:
- Break the pin by moving the piece behind it. If your queen is the piece behind, move the queen out of the line. This removes the pin entirely — the pinned piece can now move freely.
- Interpose a piece. Place a less valuable piece between the pinner and the target. This breaks the line-of-sight and releases the pin.
- Attack the pinning piece. If you can attack or capture the bishop or rook creating the pin, it is forced to move or be taken. The pin disappears.
- Move the pinned piece anyway. In a relative pin, sometimes moving the pinned piece is the right answer — especially if it creates a counter-threat that is more dangerous than the piece you would lose behind it.
How Every Day Chess drills pins
Pin positions appear throughout the daily ten at every band. The free workout scores you by theme and your pin-accuracy appears on your skill profile so you can see whether recognising pins is specifically a gap. Misses come back as Rematches until cleared. The Program adds 30-day check-ins that compare your pin recognition now to where it was a month ago.
Practice pin positions in today's live puzzles — free.
Ten daily chess puzzles at your level. Skill scored by theme. No account, no card.
Play today's ten →