Pin: rook to d1 (d2)
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The tactical motive
Pin: a piece can't move without exposing something more valuable behind it.
Difficulty 2072 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
Black to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
A pin freezes a piece in front of a more valuable one behind it. Scan the ranks, files and diagonals your bishop, rook or queen controls: if an enemy piece cannot move without exposing its king or queen, it is pinned and can be piled on or bypassed.
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 h1, queen g3, rook c1, bishop b7, pawn g2 h2 f4 a5 e5 b6 c6.
Black: king g8, rook d2 d8, pawn e2 a6 e6 f7 g7 h7.
11 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 38.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 8 points of material (24 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 h1, the black king on g8.
It is Black to move on move 38, with 31 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: b, c.
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
38... Rd1+ 39. Qe1 Rxc1 40. Kg1 Rxe1+
Why it works
- Great move! rook to d1 keeps the pressure (+0.9).
- A brilliant blow: rook to c1, and you stand better (+1.7).
- Strong! rook to e1 is the sharp choice (+1.9).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qe1, then Rxc1 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 38… Rd1+ — rook to d1 with check
- 39. Qe1 — queen to e1
- Rxc1 — rook to c1 (capture)
- 40. Kg1 — king to g1
- Rxe1+ — rook to e1 (capture) with check
Types in this puzzle
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
Win the pinned piece
The pinned piece cannot run — attack it again and win it.
A pinned piece cannot flee, which means you can win it outright by attacking it one more time. Count attackers against defenders: if you outnumber them, the piece is yours. The best extra attacker is a pawn, since it costs less than anything it might capture. Do not rush the capture — build up the pressure first, then harvest.
Clearance
Clear your own piece out of the way — with tempo — for the decisive blow.
Clearance is about your own piece standing in the way of the decisive blow — so you move it aside, or even throw it away. The key is to clear with tempo: jump off with a check, a capture or a threat, giving the opponent no time to regroup. The telltale sign: you see a crushing queen or rook move, but one of your own pieces blocks the line or occupies the square. Do not cling to it — a clearance sacrifice usually costs less than a missed attack.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 015
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