Did those songs you were hearing end? Would you like to hear them again?
Pinning: Boy, These Tactics Are Cool so Far
Welcome to the second installment in the tactics tutorial in the chess tutorial. In this section we'll feature pins, probably one of the most common tactics that you'll see in chess, however, it's all in how you exploit these pins to whether you really understand them. Also, this installment will feature increasingly harder tests and examples to help you grow accustomed to seeing positions that may appear in games. Just stick with me and I'll guide you through it, then we'll send you on your way to some interesting (and difficult!) tests.
Ummm, What's a Pin?
A pin is a tactic, as you may have already guessed, in which you attack a piece, which indirectly attacks a piece behind it. In other words, if the piece that is being attacked moves, the piece behind it will be under capture. It should be noted that a pin is only valuable if the piece being indirectly attacked is more valuable than the piece attacking. An example should clarify things:
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In the above diagram, the knight is pinned to the queen by the bishop, meaning that if the knight moves, black can kiss his queen goodbye which he most certainly does not want to do!
Two Types of Pins
If you said relative pin, you're absolutely right, only pins agisnt the king are absolute, their movement would cost the king and game which is illegal, a big no-no.
How To Exploit a Pinned Piece
Now, the key to exploiting a pin. Take a look at the diagram below, can you see the winning move?
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Much more complicated than a few examples that we've looked at, but nothing we can't handle. Let's take a look at the position and note a few things. First, we'll notice that the black queen is in an absolute pin to the king, a sure sign to look fora way to exploit it. Second, we'll note that 1. Qxd5 Rxd5 just trades the queens, but we want to do more with the pin we have. The black queen is attacked once and defended once, how can we add more power to the attack on the pinned piece? Well, since we know that the queen cannot move, period, 1. Rd1 is safe, which is actually the correct move.
But wait you ask, why can't black just take the queen? Then it's a trade and black can then take off white's rook and he'll be in trouble! Glad you asked, who said that we have to take the queen back right away? After 1. ... Qxc4 2. Rxd8+! K Moves 3. bxc4, white will be up an entire rook.
Whew! A little tougher example than what we've been looking at. Hope you understood it all! Now, onto some tests to test and practise your new found skills. Good luck!
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Time to separate the mice from the men!
This concludes this portion of the tutorial, continue on to the third section in the tactics tutorial, skewers, interesting stuff! You're well on your way to becoming a chessmaster already, practice, practice practice, and you'll be there in no time.
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