Chess skewers: attack the front, win the back
A skewer is a pin read the other way round, and it is the more brutal of the two: a pin restrains, a skewer collects.
- 120 positions in the course
- Difficulty 610–2302
- Section: Tactics
- 5 levels
What a skewer is
A skewer is an attack along a rank, file or diagonal against a valuable piece that has a less valuable one directly behind it. The front piece has to move, and when it does, the piece behind it is taken.
The mechanism is identical to a pin. The difference is only which end of the line is worth more, which is why the two are worth learning together and why players who learned them separately still mix them up years later.
How to spot it
- Any two enemy pieces on one line with nothing between them is a candidate. Check the order: valuable in front means skewer.
- Checks are the strongest skewers, because a king in check must move and gets no choice about it.
- Skewers are an endgame weapon above all. Two pieces on an open board line up constantly, and there is nothing left to interpose.
- Look for the square from which your rook, bishop or queen would hit both, and then ask whether you can get there with tempo.
Three skewers to find
Three positions from the 120 in this skill, easiest first. The highlighted squares are the move your opponent has just played. Work it out before you open the answer.
Position 1
Black to move. Find the best move.
Show the answer
40.f5 40...Rxg2+ 41.Kf4 41...Rxg7
The line wins a rook. The piece in front is worth more, so it must move, and the piece behind it has nowhere to go.
The position comes from an endgame of a real game, rated 610 for difficulty. The answer reaches a winning advantage.
Position 2
White to move. Find the best move.
Show the answer
23...a5 24.Re8+ Kd7 25.Rxa8
The line wins a rook. The piece in front is worth more, so it must move, and the piece behind it has nowhere to go.
The position comes from the middlegame of a real game, rated 1329 for difficulty. The answer reaches a winning advantage.
Position 3
Black to move. Find the best move.
Show the answer
50.e6 50...Bd1+ 51.Kf4 51...Bxh5
The line wins a piece. The piece in front is worth more, so it must move, and the piece behind it has nowhere to go.
The position comes from an endgame of a real game, rated 1866 for difficulty. The answer reaches a winning advantage.
Avoiding skewers
Do not leave two pieces on one open line with the big one in front, particularly the king. The single most common skewer in club chess is a check to a king on an open file or diagonal that picks up a loose rook behind it.
In rook endgames this is not an occasional accident but the main recurring danger, and the standard prophylactic is the same one every time: give the king a square off the line before the enemy rook gets to the file, not after.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between a pin and a skewer?
The order of the two pieces. In a pin the less valuable piece is in front and cannot move without exposing the valuable one behind. In a skewer the valuable piece is in front, is attacked directly, and moving it hands over whatever was behind it.
Which pieces can skewer?
Bishops, rooks and queens -- the pieces that attack along lines. A knight or pawn cannot skewer, because a skewer requires a line that passes through the first piece to reach the second.
Is a skewer better than a pin?
Usually, yes. A pin creates a long-term restraint that still has to be converted into something; a skewer normally wins material on the spot, because the front piece has no way to stay where it is.
Nearby patterns
Skewers sits in Tactics. The rest of that section:
Tell it apart from its neighbour
Skewers is confused with these more often than anything else, and the difference is usually one sentence long.
- Pin vs skewerThe same line, read in two directions
- Fork vs skewerTwo targets, or two targets on one line
- Skewer vs x-rayAn attack now, or an attack waiting