Pin: rook to h5
li-0Oj2wOpens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Pin: a piece can't move without exposing something more valuable behind it.
Difficulty 2144 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.
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 g1, queen e4, rook e1 h3, pawn a2 b2 c2 f2 h2 g5 f6.
Black: king h7, queen f8, rook d7 d8, pawn b4 a5 h5 e6 g6 c7 f7.
11 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 30.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 26 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on g1, the black king on h7.
It is White to move on move 30, with 46 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 7. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: e.
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
30. Rxh5+ Kg8 31. Rh6 Qxh6 32. gxh6
Why it works
- Great move! rook to h5 keeps the pressure (+5.0).
- Well found: rook to h6 (+5.0).
- Strong! pawn to h6 is the sharp choice (+5.1).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kg8, then Rh6 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 30. Rxh5+ — rook to h5 (capture) with check
- Kg8 — king to g8
- 31. Rh6 — rook to h6
- Qxh6 — queen to h6 (capture)
- 32. gxh6 — pawn to h6 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
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.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 015
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