chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

, a skewer is an attack upon two pieces in a line and is similar to a pin. A skewer is sometimes described as a "reverse pin"; the difference is that in a skewer, the more valuable piece is the one under direct attack. The opponent is compelled to move the more valuable piece to avoid its capture, thereby exposing the less valuable piece which can then be captured (see chess piece relative value). Only (i.e. bishops,

rooks Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to: Games *Rook (chess), a piece in chess *Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game Military *Sukhoi Su-25 The Sukhoi Su-25 ''Grach'' (russian: � ...

, and

queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

) can skewer;

kings Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...

knights A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...

, and pawns cannot.

Details

Compared to the pin, a passive action with only an implied threat, the skewer is a direct attack upon the more valuable piece, making it generally a much more powerful and effective tactic. The victim of a skewer often cannot avoid losing ; the only question is which material will be lost. The skewer occurs less often than the pin in actual play. When it does occur, however, it is often decisive. Skewers can be broken down into two types: ''absolute'' and ''relative''. In an absolute skewer, the king is in check, therefore the check must be handled (under the rules of chess); whereas in a relative skewer, the pieces involved do not necessarily need to be addressed, but it is generally disadvantageous to not address the skewered piece.

Absolute skewer

In this diagram, with White to move, the white

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

is skewered by the black bishop. This is an ''absolute skewer'', because the rules of chess compel White to get out of check (if possible). After White chooses one of the handful of legal moves available, Black will capture the white queen.

Relative skewer

In this diagram, with Black to move, the black queen is skewered by White's bishop. To avoid capture of the queen, Black must move the queen, and on the next move, White can capture the rook. This is a ''relative skewer''; Black is likely to move the queen, which is more valuable than the rook—but the choice is still available.

Examples from games

In the game Nigel Short– Rafael Vaganian, Barcelona 1989, White

sacrifices Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exis ...

a bishop to win a queen by a skewer. White has just played 51.Be5+ (see diagram), skewering Black's king and queen. If Black responds 51...Kxe5 to avoid the immediate loss of the queen, 52.Qc3+ wins the queen by another skewer. Black resigned in this position.Hooper & Whyld (1996), p. 374. ''skewer''.

Defence

Skewers can be escaped by gaining a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

with a credible threat. For example, if either defending piece leaves the skewer to give check, the other can be rescued on the next move. The skewer can also be reversed into a discovered attack; if the less valuable piece can attack the skewering piece, making a threat with the more valuable piece allows the defender to capture the attacker first (if the threat does not itself drive off the attacker). If there is empty space between the skewering and the skewered pieces, it may be possible to convert the skewer into a pin by moving a lower-valued piece to intervene.

References

Bibliography *

External links

Chess Tactics Repository - Skewers
- Collection of chess problems involving skewers

{{chess Chess tactics Chess terminology