Pin: bishop to d4 (f2)
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The tactical motive
Pin: a piece can't move without exposing something more valuable behind it.
Skewer: a valuable piece is forced to move, exposing the one behind it.
Difficulty 2011 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
White 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.
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 g2, queen g8, bishop f2.
Black: king f6, queen e5, bishop g4, pawn a2 b5.
3 white and 5 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 86.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (12 against 14; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g2, the black king on f6.
It is White to move on move 86, with 30 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 0 pawns, Black 2. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d, e, f, g, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, b.
The White king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
86. Bd4 Qxd4 87. Qh8+ Kf7 88. Qxd4
Why it works
- Brilliant! The bishop on d4 is a sacrifice that works — you stand better (+2.5).
- Well found: queen to h8 (+2.4).
- Strong! queen to d4 is the sharp choice (+2.9).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qxd4, then Qh8+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 86. Bd4 — bishop to d4
- Qxd4 — queen to d4 (capture)
- 87. Qh8+ — queen to h8 with check
- Kf7 — king to f7
- 88. Qxd4 — queen to d4 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Sacrifice attack
Give up material to unleash a decisive attack.
A sacrificial attack gives up material on purpose to rip the king's shelter open and launch a decisive assault. The sac is sound when you get concrete assets in return: open lines to the king, tempi, pieces ready to pour in. The signs: a poorly sheltered king, your forces aimed at its home, defenders stranded far away. The iron rule is to calculate, not hope — once the material is gone, there is no way back.
Queen endgame
Queens on an open board — precision above all.
Queen endgames are treacherous: the queen reaches everywhere, and one slip turns a win into perpetual check. The signs are few pawns, exposed kings, and checks hanging in the air. Tuck your king away early, and use your own checks to bring the queen closer or push your passer with tempo. The typical mistake is grabbing pawns while leaving your king exposed to endless checks.
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).
Pack 014
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