The Pin
"Freeze a piece in place — attack through it to win material."
A pin occurs when a piece cannot move without exposing a more valuable piece behind it to capture. Absolute pins fix a piece against the king (moving it is illegal), while relative pins fix it against a queen or rook (moving it loses material). Mastering pins is one of the fastest ways to win material in chess.
Key Ideas
- 1An absolute pin makes a piece completely immobile — it cannot move at all because doing so would put the king in check
- 2A relative pin means moving the pinned piece is legal but loses significant material behind it
- 3Bishops, rooks, and queens can all create pins along ranks, files, and diagonals
- 4Piling pressure on a pinned piece by attacking it multiple times is the classic way to exploit a pin
- 5A pin is most powerful when the piece pinned against is the king — exploit it before the king can escape
How to Spot It
- ✓Look for your bishops, rooks, or queens aligned along a rank, file, or diagonal with two opposing pieces in line
- ✓Ask: is there a more valuable piece directly behind the target? If yes, a pin may be possible
- ✓Check if pieces are defending other pieces — a pinned piece cannot defend
- ✓Look for pins that target a defending piece: if the defender is pinned, the piece it guards becomes vulnerable
How to Defend Against It
- ⚠Break the pin by moving the more valuable piece off the line first
- ⚠Interpose another piece between the pin and the valuable piece behind it
- ⚠Counter-attack the pinning piece to drive it away before the pin becomes decisive
- ⚠Castle to move the king to safety — many pins target pieces pinned to the king
Interactive Puzzles
Find the best move — drag or click a piece to play it out.
White to move
Pin Black's knight to the queen — it cannot safely move!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a pin in chess?
A pin is a tactic where a piece cannot move without exposing a more valuable piece behind it. An absolute pin is against the king (moving is illegal); a relative pin is against another valuable piece (moving loses material).
What pieces can create a pin?
Bishops, rooks, and queens can create pins. Bishops pin along diagonals, rooks along ranks and files, and queens along all directions.
How do you exploit a pin?
Pile more attackers onto the pinned piece than the opponent has defenders. Since the pinned piece usually cannot move, it will eventually be lost. You can also use a pin to deny a piece its defensive duty.
What is the difference between an absolute and relative pin?
An absolute pin is against the king — the pinned piece literally cannot move without putting the king in check. A relative pin is against a queen, rook, or other valuable piece — the pinned piece can move but doing so loses significant material.
How do you defend against a pin?
Break the pin by moving the valuable piece off the line, interpose a piece to block it, or attack the pinning piece to force it to retreat.
Related Tactics
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