5-minute lessons
Short reads that finish with a couple of questions — perfect between games.
Pins in 5 minutes
Tactics · ~5 min
A pin freezes a piece because moving it would expose a more valuable piece behind it.
- Absolute pin: the piece behind is the king — the pinned piece cannot legally move off the line.
- Relative pin: the piece behind is valuable (often the queen) — moving is legal but costly.
- Attack pinned pieces again; they often cannot recapture safely.
Question 1 of 2
What makes a pin “absolute”?