The Pin

This is my second lesson about well-known tactical patterns. We have already studied the fork together. Now we are going to have a look at the pin.
As usual, all screenshots are taken from Chess Trainer.

We are here to learn how to win this material advantage with a pin. this post includes some examples and also a few puzzles to help you dealing with this configuration.
First, the definition: a pin is a situation brought on by an attacking piece in which a defending piece cannot move without exposing a more valuable defending piece on its other side to capture by the attacking piece.

Sounds obscure, right ? Let's see an example of an absolute pin:

Here is another example of an absolute pin:

Now, you have the white pieces, how do you take advantage of the following position ? (For better results, try to find the solution by yourself before jumping to the solution)

The solution is to attack the Knight:

1. d3
This simple move wins a piece !
1... Be7
Black cannot move the Knight and has no good move here
2. dxe4
Capturing the Knight


A pin is not a tactic in itself, but it can be used in many tactical situations. It is therefore a dagerous weapon.
The next example shows what a relative pin is:

To remove the pin, you can eather move the Queen:

...or put the Bishop in e7:

Now, take a look at the following situation where your Knight is pinned:

The answer is "Yes" of course. Look what happens if you play carelessly:

1... Nf6
ignoring the threat
2. d5
now White pushes the pawn on d5, attacking the c6-Knight ! The Knight cannot move...
2... Nxe4 
Capturing a pawn
3. dxc6
But now White captures the Knight and gets a winning material advantage !


Another puzzle: find the good move here (first try to find if there is a pin somewhere)

And here is the solution:

As a conclusion to this chapter, remember that the pin is a dangerous weapon.
If an opposing piece is pinned, always check if you could capture it.
If one of your pieces is pinned, always check if your opponent is threatening something on it, and, in general, try to remove the pin quickly.
More on the pin also on this excellent video lesson by thechesswebsite.


I hope you have learned a lot.
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