The term pin in chess is used to define a constraint that a piece can not move. It the piece moves, it will lead to loss of piece or check or at a weaker board position.
Piece that is pinning
A piece that makes a move that will force a pin on opponents piece is called pinning piece. For example, the bishop at d5 square will move to c6. This forces the queen to stay at its present square of d7, since moving the queen will lead to check on the king by bishop. This is called pinning.
Piece that is pinned
In the example given above the queen is pinned to king and it is the pinned piece.
Types of Pin
There different type of pins are available. Those are
Absolute Pin
Absolute pin is the case where the piece blocked is king. Since a piece cannot move if the move exposes king to a check, it is pinned at the present position and it is called absolute pin. See the example of absolute pin.
Partial Pin
Partial pin is a sub category of absolute pin where the pinned pice can move in the same file, same rank or one of the diagonals.
The queen in figure, can not move in outside of e file since it is pinned to king. However, it can move along the e file. This is how the queen is pinned at e file.
The queen can not move in outside of eighth rank in figure, since it is pinned to king. However, it can move along the eighth rank. This is how the queen is pinned at eighth rank.
The queen can move only in the white squares diagonally to her right in the example since moving outside this square range will expose its king to check. This is how queen is pinned diagonally.
Relative pin
Relative pin does not put any constraint on the pinned piece. However, if the pinned piece is moved, it will lead to a loss of high value piece.
In the example given above, the white pawn at d3 can capture the black pawn at e4. However, this move exposes the white bishop to black queen. Since the white bishop is not supported, the black queen can capture the white bishop without any loss. Hence the pawn at d3 is relatively pinned to the bishop.
Situational pin
Situational pin is the condition in which the movement if a piece is allowed. However, the movement may lead to a strategically disadvantage.
For example, the bishop at e5 has no constraints to move. However, if it moves from e5, the pawn at e4 is exposed. The black queen then captures the pawn and give a check to the white king. Upon the white king’s move, the queen then captures the rook at h1. This is a weaker board position for white. Hence the bishop is situational pinned.
How to un pin
To remove pinning on a piece, three steps can be taken. They are
- Capture the pinning piece
- Black the pinning piece by bringing another piece in between the pinning piece and pinned piece.
- Move the higher value piece that is shielded by the pinned piece
Pieces that can not pin
Not all the pieces can pin. There re pieces that can not pin. They are
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Related posts
Table of Contents
- Piece that is pinning
- Piece that is pinned
- Types of Pin
- Absolute Pin
- Relative pin
- Situational pin
- How to un pin
- Pieces that can not pin
- Play chess for free
