The Pin: Freezing a Piece in Place
A pin is an attack on a piece that cannot move without exposing a more valuable piece standing behind it on the same line.
How a pin works
Only pieces that move along lines can pin: bishops, rooks and queens. The pinning piece attacks along a rank, file or diagonal, the pinned piece stands in front, and something more valuable stands behind it.
If the piece behind is the king, the pin is absolute: the pinned piece is not allowed to leave the line at all, because that would expose its own king to check. If the piece behind is anything else, the pin is relative: moving is legal, but it costs whatever was being shielded.
A pinned piece is still on the board, but for practical purposes it has stopped working. It cannot move away from threats, and a piece that is pinned to its king does not really defend anything off the line.
How to win with a pin
The basic technique is "pile on the pinned piece". Since it cannot run, attack it again, ideally with something cheap. A pawn attacking a pinned knight or bishop is often decisive, because the piece cannot step away and the pawn is worth less than anything it hits.
A pinned piece can still move along the line of the pin. A queen pinned by a bishop can capture that bishop. Before you pin, check whether the pinned piece can simply take the pinner, and whether the pinner is defended.
Pins also combine with other motifs. A piece pinned to its king cannot recapture, so squares it seems to guard are really unguarded. That is how many forks, mates and back-rank tricks become possible.
Why players miss pins
Most missed pins are pins against the player who missed them. Moving a queen onto the same diagonal or file as your king, with only one piece in between, invites a pin. Before you put your king and queen on one line, look for enemy bishops and rooks that could reach it. The pins you fall into in your own games are the ones worth drilling.
How to spot it
- Look for enemy king and queen sharing a line with one piece in between.
- Check which of your bishops, rooks or queen can reach that line.
- Once a piece is pinned, attack it again, preferably with a pawn.
- Ask whether the pinned piece can capture the pinner along the line.
- Treat a piece pinned to its king as if it defends nothing.
Try these
Work it out from the diagram first, then play it on the board or open the solution.
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gExample 1
Black to move and win the queen.
Show solution
30...Bc6 31.Qxc6 Rxc6
Bc6 attacks the queen on d5, and the queen is pinned: behind it, on the same c6-g2 diagonal, stands the white king. The queen can only move along that diagonal, so Qe4 or Qf3 would just be captured by the bishop. Qxc6 is the only try, and the rook on c1 recaptures up the open c-file, winning the queen for a bishop.
Position from a real game, via the Lichess puzzle database.
eExample 2
Black to move and win material.
Show solution
34...Re1+ 35.Kc2 Re2
The bishop on d2 is already pinned to the king on c1 by the bishop on f4, so after Re1+ it cannot capture the rook, and Kc2 is the only legal move. Re2 then pins the bishop a second time, along the second rank against the king on c2. It is attacked by the rook and the f4 bishop and defended only by the king, and Rxg5+ just gives away the rook to Bxg5.
Position from a real game, via the Lichess puzzle database.