How to Teach Chess Pins

Short answer: Teach pins by starting with one plain sentence: a pin is when a piece cannot safely move because a more valuable piece sits behind it on the same line. Begin with pins against the king, then pins against queens and rooks. Train two habits: spot the line, then ask how to pile more pressure on the pinned piece.

Pins are usually the second tactic students meet, right after forks. They look simple on a demonstration board, yet students often miss them in games, or make a pin and then have no idea how to use it.

This guide covers how to introduce pins, the difference between absolute and relative pins, how to turn a pin into a won piece, and how much practice students need. I'm not a chess coach, so treat it as a structure to adapt to your own students.

What is a pin, and why teach it second?

A pin is a tactic where a piece is stuck in place because moving it would expose a more valuable piece behind it to capture. Only bishops, rooks, and queens can make a pin, since they attack along lines. Pins come second for most students because the idea builds directly on forks: both are about one piece creating a problem the opponent cannot easily solve.

Pins also teach something forks do not. A pin often does not win material straight away. It restricts the opponent, and the win comes from adding pressure. That patient, two-step thinking is useful for every theme that follows. Our complete guide to teaching chess tactics shows where pins sit in the wider picture.

What is the difference between an absolute and a relative pin?

In an absolute pin the piece shields the king, so moving it off the line is illegal. In a relative pin the piece shields something else valuable, so moving is legal but usually costs material. Teach the absolute pin first, because the rule is black and white, then add the relative version once students have the idea.

One detail worth naming early is that a pinned piece can still capture the pinning piece, or move along the line of the pin, if the position allows it. Students who miss this walk into surprises.

How do you introduce pins to a student?

Start with the idea in words, then let the student find it. The same four-step pattern we use across tactics works well for pins:

1. Show. One clear example of a bishop pinning a piece to the king. Name the pieces and explain why the pinned piece cannot move
2. Ask. Set a similar position and let the student find the pinning move. Resist the urge to hint
3. Vary. Give several positions with the same idea in different dress: a rook on a file, a queen on a diagonal, a pin against the queen
4. Apply. Offer positions with no label, some with a pin available and some without, so the student has to decide whether one exists

The last step carries over to real games, where nobody announces that a pin is available. Spend more time there than feels natural.

How do you win material from a pin?

You win material from a pin by adding pressure to the pinned piece, because it cannot run away. Once a student has made the pin, the next question is always the same: what else can attack the pinned piece? Give students this short list to work through:

• Attack it with a pawn. A pawn is cheap, so the pinned piece has to be defended by something worth more, or it is lost
• Attack it again. Count attackers and defenders on the pinned piece, then bring another attacker if the numbers are level
• Remove its defenders. A pinned piece that loses its protection is simply a free piece
• Threaten the piece behind it. Sometimes the pin itself is the threat, and the opponent must spend a move to break it

The counting habit is the important one. Students who learn to count attackers and defenders on the pinned piece stop treating pins as decoration and start treating them as a plan.

What does a pin lesson look like in practice?

A good pin lesson is mostly the student finding pins, with you asking questions. Here is a made-up example plan for a 45 minute lesson. The timings are only an illustration, so adjust them to your student.

1. Warm-up (5 minutes). Three quick positions from last week's theme, to bring the last lesson back
2. Teach (10 minutes). Show a bishop pinning a knight to the king. Ask the student why the knight is stuck, and what would happen if it moved
3. Guided practice (15 minutes). Work through positions where the student finds the pin, then asks themselves how to attack the pinned piece again
4. Play (10 minutes). Set up a position from the middle of a game and ask the student to find pins for either side
5. Set homework (5 minutes). A specific number of pin puzzles per day until the next lesson

Here is a made-up worked example of the thinking you want to hear. A student sees an enemy knight sitting in front of its king, with the student's bishop pointing at it. They say: "The knight is pinned, so it can't move. It's defended once, and I can attack it with a pawn, so that's two attackers against one defender." That is the whole skill in three sentences: spot the line, name the pin, count the pressure.

Why do students miss pins?

Students miss pins because they only look along the lines their own pieces are already using, and a pin needs them to notice an enemy piece standing in front of something valuable. A few typical causes:

• They don't look at what is behind a piece. They see the knight, but not the king or queen lined up behind it
• They forget long-range pieces. A bishop or rook on the far side of the board can pin from a distance
• They pin and stop. The pin is made, then they move on to something else instead of adding pressure
• They walk into pins. They place a piece in front of their own king or queen without noticing the line

Ask a student to talk through a missed pin out loud and you will usually hear which one it was. For a wider look at this, see why chess students keep missing tactics.

How do you stop students mixing up pins and skewers?

Teach one rule about which piece is in front. In a pin, the less valuable piece is in front and cannot safely move. In a skewer, the more valuable piece is in front and must move, which exposes the piece behind it. Both use the same long-range pieces on the same kinds of lines, which is why students confuse them.

The simplest fix is separation. Teach pins fully before skewers, and when you do introduce skewers, put one pin and one skewer side by side and ask the student to say which is which and why. Our post on what order to teach chess tactics in explains why skewers come after pins.

How do you teach students to break or avoid pins?

Teach the defence as a set of options, because a pin can be answered in several ways. Before each move, a student should ask which of their own pieces are lined up in front of something valuable. When they are pinned, they can work through this list:

1. Move the valuable piece behind, so the pin disappears
2. Block the line with another piece
3. Capture the pinning piece
4. Add defenders to the pinned piece so an attack on it does not win material

Practice it by stopping a training game now and then and asking, "Which of your pieces could be pinned next move?" It takes seconds and prevents a lot of lost pieces. It also pairs well with how to teach chess forks, since the same habit of scanning for the opponent's ideas applies.

How much pin practice does a student need?

Enough that spotting pins feels automatic, which means short sessions repeated over days and weeks. A steady daily set of pin puzzles beats one long session. Our post on how many chess puzzles a day covers the amounts in more detail.

Make students find the move before they see the answer. The 2006 test-enhanced learning study by Roediger and Karpicke found that practising recall beats re-reading, and puzzles are a natural way to do that. Come back to pins for a few puzzles each week after you've moved on, as described in how to make chess tactics stick.

Set the pin practice as homework too. Our complete guide to chess homework for students explains how to set it so it actually gets done.

FAQ

What is a pin in chess?

A pin is a tactic where a piece cannot move, or should not move, because doing so would expose a more valuable piece behind it to capture. Only bishops, rooks, and queens can pin, because they attack along lines.

What is the difference between an absolute pin and a relative pin?

In an absolute pin the piece shields the king, so moving it off the line is illegal. In a relative pin it shields something else valuable, so moving is legal but costly. Teach the absolute pin first because the rule is clearer.

Which pieces can make a pin?

Bishops, rooks, and queens, because they attack along diagonals, ranks, and files. Knights, pawns, and kings cannot pin, though they are often the pieces that attack the pinned piece and win it.

Can a pinned piece still give check?

Yes. A pinned piece still attacks the squares it normally attacks, so the enemy king cannot step onto them. Students often forget this, and it can turn a pin into a defensive resource for the pinned side.

How is a pin different from a skewer?

In a pin, the less valuable piece is in front and the more valuable one is behind it. In a skewer, the more valuable piece is in front and must move, exposing the one behind. Teach them on separate days.

How many pin puzzles should a student do?

There is no fixed number. A short daily set of pin puzzles, with a real attempt before checking the answer, beats one long session. Younger or busier students can do fewer, and you can raise the amount as the pattern becomes automatic.

Where to go next

Read the complete guide to teaching chess tactics, or see how Chess Tactics Mastery: Coach Edition gives your students a month of pin practice, 25 puzzles a day.