Worksheet: Pins

A pin locks a piece in place because moving it would expose a more valuable piece (often the king) behind it.

Why This Matters

• A pin happens when a bishop, rook, or queen attacks a piece that is standing in front of a more valuable piece.
• An "absolute" pin is against the king - the pinned piece legally cannot move at all.
• Pinned pieces make great targets: pile up more attackers on them since they often cannot run away.

Practice Tasks

1. Explain why a pinned piece is often "frozen" even if it looks like it can move.
2. In the mini-game position, name a piece that could become pinned.
3. Solve the 3 pin puzzles and write down which piece is pinned in each one.

Board Evolution (One Step per Board)

Practice Positions

Find each move on paper, then check the Answer Key at the end.

Mini-Game

Play this position with a partner. Look for any bishop or rook move that would pin an enemy piece to its king or queen.

Answer Key

1. If the pinned piece moves, it would expose the king to check, which is illegal - or it would lose a bigger piece behind it.
2. Answers will vary based on the position reached.
3. See practice positions above for each puzzle's solution move.

Practice Position Solutions

1. Practice 1: Qxa5+ — The knight on a5 is pinned to the king by the white rook on a1 along the a-file — it is not allowed to move at all. The white queen simply captures it along the 5th rank with Qxa5+.
2. Practice 2: gxf6 — The white bishop on b2 pins the black bishop on f6 to the king on h8 along the long diagonal, so the black bishop cannot move away. The pawn on g5 simply captures it with gxf6.
3. Practice 3: Rexe8+ — The rook on e8 is pinned along the 8th rank by White's rook on a8 — if it moved, the king on g8 would be in check. The other white rook, on e1, simply captures it along the e-file with check.