Skewer: bishop to g5 (h4)
li-06YU2naming tag (square·N)Opens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Deflection: force the defender to abandon its post.
Skewer: a valuable piece is forced to move, exposing the one behind it.
Difficulty 1511 ShuffleRating — club-player level.
Black to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
Deflection drags a defender away from its duty. Identify the enemy piece that guards a key square or mate, then force it to move — with a check, a capture or a threat it must answer — and strike where it no longer defends.
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 d2, rook f1, bishop c2 d4, knight c1, pawn a3 c3 h3.
Black: king g8, rook e6, bishop f3 h4, pawn c4 e4 a5 g6 h7.
8 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 43.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (17 against 16; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d2, the black king on g8.
It is Black to move on move 43, with 28 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, d, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
The Black king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
43... Bg5+ 44. Ke1 Bxc1
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to g5 keeps the pressure (+2.0).
- Well found: bishop to c1 (+2.2).
- You win a piece — the knight.
- If instead Ke1, then Bxc1 and you win the knight.
Move by move
- 43… Bg5+ — bishop to g5 with check
- 44. Ke1 — king to e1
- Bxc1 — bishop to c1 (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.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 011
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