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| There are three elements to a pin: the piece that does the pinning, the piece that is pinned, and the piece (or square) that the pinned piece is pinned to. In the diagram on the right the White Bishop is pinning the Black Knight to its King. When a piece is pinned to its King it is illegal for the pinned piece to move because it would expose the King to attack. In this case if the Knight moved, it would expose the King to an attack from the Bishop. Therefore the Knight cannot move. | 
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| Sometimes a piece is pinned to another piece besides the King. In order for the pin to be effective, losing that piece to the pinning piece should be undesirable. In the diagram on the left the White Bishop on g5 is pinning the Black Knight to its Queen. Although it is legal for the Knight to move, once it does it will expose the Queen to an attack from the Bishop. Since the Queen is much more powerful than the Bishop, it wouldn't be wise for Black to allow this Bishop for Queen trade. Therefore the Knight is effectively pinned. |
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| Sometimes the pinned piece is not pinned to another piece at all. A piece can be pinned to a square as the diagram on the right shows. If the Knight moves, it would allow the Rook to move to the square b8, administering checkmate. Since the Knight cannot move and cannot be defended, it will be captured by the Rook on its next move. A very effective pin indeed. | 
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| There are four ways to get out of a pin: by taking the pinning piece, by attacking the pinning piece, by placing another less valuable piece in the path of the pin, and by moving the piece that the piece is pinned to out of the path of the pin. In the diagram on the left White's Rook is pinning the Black Queen to its King. All is not lost for Black, however, since he can interpose his Bishop between the Rook and Queen, thus breaking the pin on his Queen. |
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| Another tactic that is similar to a pin is a skewer. In a pin, the piece behind the pinned piece is usually the more valuable of the two. In a skewer, the piece that is in front is the more valuable piece. The diagram on the right is a good example. The White Queen is attacking the Black King. When the King moves out of the attack, the White Queen will be able to gobble up the Black Queen free-of-charge. | 
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Last modified: 14 September 2004
Roger McIntyre