The One Thing
A pin stops a piece from moving because moving it exposes something more valuable behind it.
Tactical Pattern
Pin
For sub-1000 ELO players
A pin is one of the most powerful tactics in chess. You attack a piece that is stuck in place because a more valuable piece is sitting behind it on the same line. If the piece behind is the king, the pinned piece literally cannot move (that is an absolute pin). If the piece behind is a queen or rook, the pinned piece can move but it would be a terrible trade (that is a relative pin). Either way, the pinned piece is frozen and you can pile up on it.
What Is a Pin?
A pin happens when one of your pieces (bishop, rook, or queen) attacks an opponent's piece that cannot move because moving it would expose a more valuable piece behind it on the same diagonal, rank, or file. An absolute pin is when the piece behind is the king. The pinned piece literally cannot move because it would put the king in check, which is illegal. A relative pin is when the piece behind is just more valuable, like a queen. The pinned piece can legally move, but doing so loses more material.
How to Spot a Pin
Look for these signals in your games.
Two opponent pieces lined up on a diagonal, rank, or file
Their knight is on c3 and their king is on e1. Those squares are on the same diagonal. If you can put a bishop on b4, the knight is pinned to the king.
A knight or bishop between a queen and your long-range piece
Their knight is between their queen and your rook on the same file. The knight is pinned to the queen. If it moves, you take the queen.
Knights are the best pin targets
Knights cannot slide along a line to break a pin. A bishop that is pinned can sometimes move along the pin line to escape, but a knight is completely stuck because it moves in an L-shape.
Example Position
The Position
Black's bishop on b4 pins the White knight on c3 to the White king on e1 along the b4-c3-d2-e1 diagonal. The knight cannot move because it would expose the king to check. Black's pawn on d4 attacks the pinned knight.
Winning Move
dxc3The knight on c3 is absolutely pinned to the king on e1. It cannot move, block, or escape. The pawn on d4 captures it for free because the knight is frozen in place. Black wins a knight for a pawn.
3 Mistakes Beginners Make
Knowing the tactic is step one. Avoiding these traps is step two.
Confusing pins with skewers
Both involve pieces on the same line. The difference: in a pin, the less valuable piece is in front and the more valuable piece is behind. In a skewer, it is the opposite.
Fix: Ask yourself: which piece is more valuable, the one in front or behind? Less valuable in front = pin. More valuable in front = skewer.
Ignoring relative pins
Since the pinned piece can technically move in a relative pin, beginners think it is not a real pin and ignore it.
Fix: A relative pin is still powerful. The pinned piece is effectively frozen because moving it loses material. Pile up on it with pawns or other pieces.
Not exploiting the pin after creating it
You pin a piece and then do nothing with it. The opponent eventually breaks the pin by moving their king or blocking the line.
Fix: After pinning a piece, attack it with a pawn or another piece. The pinned piece cannot run, so adding attackers wins material.
Pin Spotter
Go to the tactics trainer and filter by the pin theme. Do 20 pin puzzles per day for one week. For each puzzle, identify: which piece is doing the pinning, which piece is pinned, and which piece is behind the pin. Say it out loud: bishop pins knight to king.
Practice Free on Lichess →Position verified by Stockfish 17 at depth 25. Published by Jon Stenstrom, Chess.com 759 Daily, Founder, 1000elo.com.
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