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Core Lesson Objective: Learn the three fundamental tactical patterns in chess: Pins (blocking a line), Forks (double attacks), and Skewers (reverse pins).
1. The Absolute Pin
Position 1 / 7
Position 1/7 • Starting Position (White to Move)
Welcome to The Big Three Tactics! 🎯 First is the Pin. Golden Rule: A pinned piece is stuck in place and cannot move without exposing a more valuable piece behind it. As the player pinning the piece, your goal is to add pressure by attacking it with a lower-value piece (like a pawn) to win it! Here, Black's Knight is absolutely pinned to their King by our Rook. Since it is defended by the e6-pawn, capturing immediately is a common trap—you would just trade off your Rook. The exception to capturing is when we can add more pressure: let's push our pawn to c4!
Mainline (3 Moves)
Move 1 / 31. c4
Excellent! Pushing c4 attacks the pinned Knight again, forcing a crisis for Black.
Move 2 / 31... Ke7
Black was forced to play 1... Ke7 to step their King out of the pin because the Knight was legally frozen in place. The Knight is no longer pinned, but it is undefended. Capture the d5-Knight!
Move 3 / 32. cxd5
Fantastic! You captured the Knight, winning a minor piece (3 points) in exchange for our pawn (1 point). That's a great material gain!
2. The Relative Pin
Position 2 / 7
Position 2/7 • Starting Position (White to Move)
Now let's look at the Relative Pin. Golden Rule: When a piece shields a valuable target other than the King, it is a relative pin! Moving it is legal, but strategically disastrous. Here, Black's Knight is pinned to their Queen by our Bishop. COACH'S TIP: The defender can legally move their pinned piece, so watch out for this tactical exception where they escape with a counter-threat! Let's attack the Knight by pushing our pawn to e5.
Mainline (3 Moves)
Move 1 / 31. e5
Great! Playing e5 attacks the Knight.
Move 2 / 31... Nd5
Black moves their Knight to d5, but this exposes their Queen! Capture the d8-Queen!
Move 3 / 32. Bxd8
Incredible! Capturing the Queen wins massive material. Black's move was legal, but strategically disastrous because of the relative pin!
3. The Fork (Double Attack)
Position 3 / 7
Position 3/7 • Starting Position (White to Move)
Next is the Fork. Golden Rule: Use highly active pieces like Knights to attack two targets at once! Here, our Knight can jump to c7 to check the King and attack the Rook. COACH'S TIP: Since Knights move in an L-shape, they can attack a Rook without the Rook being able to capture them back! Move our Knight to c7!
Mainline (3 Moves)
Move 1 / 31. Nc7+
Fantastic! The c7-Knight checks the King and forks the Rook.
Move 2 / 31... Kd7
Black had to move their King to d7 to escape check. The a8-Rook is still trapped! Capture it!
Move 3 / 32. Nxa8
Great job! Capturing the Rook wins 5 points for free, demonstrating the power of the Knight fork.
4. The Skewer (Reverse Pin)
Position 4 / 7
Position 4/7 • Starting Position (White to Move)
The third tactic is the Skewer, which is like a reverse pin. Golden Rule: Force a valuable piece to move away, exposing a less valuable piece behind it! Here, Black's King is in front of their Rook on the a-file. COACH'S TIP: Verify that the valuable front piece cannot escape with check or create a defending threat—watch out for this defensive exception! Move our Rook to a1 to check the King and skewer the Rook!
Mainline (3 Moves)
Move 1 / 31. Ra1+
Excellent! The a1-Rook checks the King.
Move 2 / 31... Kb6
Black was forced to move their King to b6 to escape check, leaving the a8-Rook exposed. Capture the a8-Rook!
Move 3 / 32. Rxa8
Well done! Capturing the Rook wins 5 points for free, demonstrating the power of the skewer where a valuable front piece (the King) was forced to move aside and expose the Rook behind it.
5. Breaking a Pin with Check
Position 5 / 7
Position 5/7 • Starting Position (White to Move)
Golden Rule: Always check if the defender can break a relative pin with check! This is a critical exception where the relative pin fails because the pinned piece can move, allowing a check that forces us to respond. Here, our g1-King is exposed, and Black's d8-Queen can slide down the d-file to check us. If we attack the Knight with e5, Black has this tactical escape. Let's play e5 to see what happens.
Mainline (4 Moves)
Move 1 / 41. e5
Move 2 / 41... Qd4+
Black plays 1... Qd4+! Since the pin is relative, Black is legally allowed to move their Queen. By checking our King, Black forces us to respond to the check rather than capturing their Queen. Move our King to h1 to escape check.
Move 3 / 42. Kh1
Move 4 / 42... Qxe5
And Black plays 2... Qxe5, capturing our pawn and safely escaping the pin. Because our King was exposed to check, our relative pin was completely neutralized!
6. Removing the Defender (Fork)
Position 6 / 7
Position 6/7 • Starting Position (White to Move)
Let's learn how to make a fork work when the destination square is defended! Here, we want to play Nc7+ to fork the King and Rook. However, Black's d6-Bishop guards the c7-square. To make the fork go through, first capture the defending Bishop with our a6-Rook!
Mainline (5 Moves)
Move 1 / 51. Rxd6
Move 2 / 51... exd6
Black recaptured with 1... exd6. Now the c7-square is completely undefended! Jump your Knight to c7 to deliver the double attack!
Move 3 / 52. Nc7+
Move 4 / 52... Kd7
Black moves their King to d7 to escape check, leaving the a8-Rook exposed. Capture the Rook to win major material!
Move 5 / 53. Nxa8
Excellent work! By capturing the defending Bishop first, you removed the defender and paved the way for a successful Knight fork.
7. Removing the Defender (Skewer)
Position 7 / 7
Position 7/7 • Starting Position (White to Move)
Next, let's look at how to execute a skewer when the checking square is defended! We want to play Ra1+ to check the a5-King and skewer the a8-Rook. But Black's c3-Bishop controls the a1-square. First, capture the defending Bishop with our d5-Knight!
Mainline (5 Moves)
Move 1 / 51. Nxc3
Move 2 / 51... bxc3
Black recaptured with 1... bxc3. Now the a1-square is undefended! Move your Rook to a1 to check the King and skewer the Rook!
Move 3 / 52. Ra1+
Move 4 / 52... Kb6
Black moves their King to b6 to escape check, leaving the a8-Rook exposed. Capture the Rook!
Move 5 / 53. Rxa8
Incredible job! You successfully removed the defending c3-Bishop and then executed a powerful skewer to win the Rook.
🛡️Editorial & Verification Standard
All 7 positions and 33 board frames in The Big Three Tactics (400-599 ELO bracket • Lesson archetype) have been verified with Stockfish at a minimum depth of 20 plies to illustrate the core theme of Tactics: Pins, Forks & Skewers: "Learn the three fundamental tactical patterns in chess: Pins (blocking a line), Forks (double attacks), and Skewers (reverse pins)." Developed and verified by David Phillips.
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