Chess Basics: Pin and Defend

When a player’s piece becomes pinned–immobilized by an attack that would be costly or illegal to dodge–they have four possible ways to respond:

• Attack the piece that created the pin to either scare it away or try to force it to capture the pinned piece, triggering a trade
• Block the pin by moving a less valuable piece in between the pinned piece and the protected piece (the more valuable piece sitting behind the pinned piece)
• Move the protected piece out of the path of attack
• Ignore the pin

In this lesson, we’ll examine what each method of defense looks like on a chess board.

Pushing Back Against a Pin

In the position below, Black just moved their bishop to g4, pinning White’s knight to the queen:

To protect their material–and their position–White should consider which defensive strategy will lead to the best outcome.

Defense Through Offense

White can attack the black bishop by moving their pawn to h3. If the bishop retreats to h5, maintaining the pin, White is able to continue the attack on their next move:

Pushing the pawn to g4 scares the bishop away once and for all and breaks the pin.

Blocking

Another option is to place a piece in between the pinned piece and the protected piece, cutting off the attacker’s access to it:

By moving their bishop to e2, White defends the knight and protects the queen at the same time.

Moving the MVP (Most Valuable Piece)

A pin can also be broken by moving the higher-value piece–the one protected by the pinned piece–out of the attacker’s path:

White can move the queen to d2, where the bishop will not be able to reach her. This would not be the best response in this position, as Black could capture the knight and force White to capture back with the g2 pawn, creating weak, doubled pawns on the kingside. 

Ignoring the Pin

If the pinned piece is defended, a player can choose to ignore the pin and carry on with other plans:

In this example, White develops their dark-square bishop to g5, creating a pin of their own. When Black captures the knight on f3, White captures back with the queen, adding a second attacker to Black’s pinned knight. 

This sequence highlights one major reason why it’s important for players to have a plan when their opponent pins one of their pieces: pinned pieces are often vulnerable to additional attacks.