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  • Lesson 17 of 32
  • Your first tactics
  • 2 min

The Pin in Chess: Freeze a Piece in Place

A pin freezes an enemy piece in place. Line up an attack through one piece onto a bigger one behind it, and the piece in front can't move without giving up what is behind.

Step 1 of 3

  1. Pinned to the king

    The white bishop on b5 attacks the black knight on c6, and behind the knight stands the black king. If the knight moves, the bishop would attack the king, and a move that exposes your own king is illegal. The knight is pinned: it cannot move at all.

  2. Make a pin

    The black knight on e5 stands on the same file as its king on e8. Put your rook on that file too, so it looks through the knight at the king.

    Your move

    Pin the knight to the king.

  3. Attack the pinned piece

    A pinned piece is a sitting target. The knight on e5 can't run away, so attack it again with something cheap.

    Your move

    Attack the pinned knight with a pawn.

What you learned

  • A pin attacks a piece that can't move without exposing a more valuable piece behind it.
  • A piece pinned to its king can't legally move at all.
  • Attack a pinned piece again: it can't run.

In this course

Unit 1The pieces

  1. The Chessboard and How to Set Up the Pieces
  2. How the Rook Moves in Chess
  3. How the Bishop Moves in Chess
  4. How the Queen Moves in Chess
  5. How the King Moves in Chess
  6. How the Knight Moves in Chess
  7. How Pawns Move and Capture in Chess
  8. Chess Piece Values: What Each Piece Is Worth

Unit 2Special moves

  1. What Is Check in Chess, and How to Get Out of It
  2. How to Castle in Chess: Kingside and Queenside
  3. En Passant in Chess, Explained on the Board
  4. Pawn Promotion in Chess: Turning a Pawn Into a Queen

Unit 3Winning the game

  1. What Is Checkmate? Learn to Mate in One
  2. Stalemate in Chess: Why It's a Draw
  3. How to Checkmate With a King and Queen

Unit 4Your first tactics

  1. The Fork: Attack Two Pieces at Once
  2. The Pin in Chess: Freeze a Piece in Place
  3. The Skewer in Chess: Attack Through a Piece

Unit 5Checkmate patterns

  1. Back-Rank Mate in Chess: Spot It and Stop It
  2. Smothered Mate in Chess: The Knight's Checkmate
  3. The Ladder Mate: Checkmate With Two Rooks
  4. How to Checkmate With a King and Rook

Unit 6More tactics

  1. Discovered Attack in Chess: Unmask a Hidden Attacker
  2. Double Check in Chess: Two Checks at Once
  3. Removing the Defender in Chess: Take the Guard

Unit 7Opening principles

  1. Control the Centre: A Chess Opening Principle
  2. How to Develop Your Pieces in the Chess Opening
  3. Scholar's Mate: How It Works and How to Stop It
  4. Fool's Mate: The Fastest Checkmate in Chess

Unit 8Endgame basics

  1. The Rule of the Square in Chess Endgames
  2. The Opposition in Chess: King Endgame Basics
  3. King and Pawn vs King: How to Win the Ending

Lessons for every game

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