Skewer: bishop to d7
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The tactical motive
Skewer: a valuable piece is forced to move, exposing the one behind it.
Difficulty 874 ShuffleRating — for beginners taking their first steps in Chess960 tactics.
Black to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
A skewer is a pin reversed — the valuable piece stands in front and, when it moves, the piece behind falls. Line your rook, bishop or queen up against the king or queen and win whatever is hiding behind it.
General method: before you move, list the forcing candidates — every check, every capture, every direct threat — and calculate those first. The solution to a tactic is almost always among them.
Position on the board
White: king e6, knight g4, pawn d4 c5.
Black: king c7, bishop e8, pawn d5 c6.
4 white and 4 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 56.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 5 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on e6, the black king on c7.
It is Black to move on move 56, with 8 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 2 pawns, Black 2. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, b, e, f, g, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
The Black king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
56... Bd7+ 57. Ke5 Bxg4
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to d7 keeps the pressure (+6.4).
- Well found: bishop to g4 (+7.3).
- You win a piece — the knight.
- If instead Ke5, then Bxg4 and you win the knight.
Move by move
- 56… Bd7+ — bishop to d7 with check
- 57. Ke5 — king to e5
- Bxg4 — bishop to g4 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Skewer
A line attack forces the valuable piece to move, exposing the one behind it.
A skewer is a pin turned inside out: the valuable piece stands in front and something cheaper hides behind it. The big piece must step aside, and you collect the one that was sheltering in its shadow. Scan for the enemy king or queen sharing a file, rank or diagonal with another enemy piece. The deadliest version comes with check — the king moves, the rook behind it dies.
Minor-piece endgame
Bishops and knights duel — geometry decides.
A minor-piece endgame leaves only bishops and knights with pawns, and geometry decides. The bishop loves an open board and play on both wings; the knight loves fixed pawns and outpost squares. Check which color squares the pawns stand on and where the knight can actually reach in time. Practical tip: against a knight, spread the play across both flanks — short legs cannot cover everything.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 004
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