Project approval after AI review on 2 November 2026. Human proofreading is still pending.
Lesson 13
A piece that cannot move
- What you will learn
- You spot a pinned piece and attack it with a pawn.
- What you should already know
- How the pieces move
- What check is
- Lesson 2: How the pieces move
- Lesson 3: Check, checkmate and stalemate
Time: about 5 minutes
Thinking questions in this lesson
You can ask yourself these thinking questions in any position. They help you find a good move.
- Which pawn move changes the position?
Step 1 of 6
Look first
Look at the e-file: your rook, a black knight and, behind it, the black king.
Tap the black piece that is not allowed to move.
Arrow keys move the focus across the squares. Enter or Space marks a square or removes the mark.
Choose a square from a list
Position as a list
White
- King g1
- Rook e1
- Bishop c1
- Pawn a2
- Pawn b2
- Pawn c3
- Pawn d2
- Pawn f2
- Pawn g2
- Pawn h2
Black
- King e8
- Rook a8
- Knight e5
- Pawn a7
- Pawn b7
- Pawn c7
- Pawn d6
- Pawn f7
- Pawn g7
- Pawn h7
Step 2 of 6
Decide
The knight is not allowed to move away. Which pawn move changes the position?
How can you use the fact that the knight cannot move?
Arrow keys move the focus across the squares. Enter or Space selects a piece and moves it to a highlighted square. Escape cancels the selection.
Position as a list
White
- King g1
- Rook e1
- Bishop c1
- Pawn a2
- Pawn b2
- Pawn c3
- Pawn d2
- Pawn f2
- Pawn g2
- Pawn h2
Black
- King e8
- Rook a8
- Knight e5
- Pawn a7
- Pawn b7
- Pawn c7
- Pawn d6
- Pawn f7
- Pawn g7
- Pawn h7
Step 3 of 6
Try it
Use the pin: attack the knight that is not allowed to move.
Arrow keys move the focus across the squares. Enter or Space selects a piece and moves it to a highlighted square. Escape cancels the selection.
Choose a move from a list
Position as a list
White
- King g1
- Rook e1
- Bishop c1
- Pawn a2
- Pawn b2
- Pawn c3
- Pawn d2
- Pawn f2
- Pawn g2
- Pawn h2
Black
- King e8
- Rook a8
- Knight e5
- Pawn a7
- Pawn b7
- Pawn c7
- Pawn d6
- Pawn f7
- Pawn g7
- Pawn h7
Step 4 of 6
Why does it work?
The knight stands between your rook and the black king. If it moves away, the king is in check. That is not allowed: nobody may put their own king in check, not even by moving another piece.
This is called a pin. A pinned knight cannot move at all. If a pawn attacks it, it cannot get out of the way.
Key idea
Attack a pinned piece with a pawn.
When does this apply?
This works if the piece cannot get away and your opponent does not break the pin in time. A knight pinned to the king cannot move at all. A rook, bishop or pawn can sometimes still move along the line. If the queen stands behind the piece, the piece may move away, but then the queen is attacked.
Step 5 of 6
New position, same idea
The board is turned round. This time a bishop pins, not a rook.
You are playing Black. Use the pin.
Arrow keys move the focus across the squares. Enter or Space selects a piece and moves it to a highlighted square. Escape cancels the selection.
Choose a move from a list
Position as a list
White
- King e1
- Rook h1
- Knight c3
- Pawn a4
- Pawn b2
- Pawn c2
- Pawn f2
- Pawn g2
- Pawn h2
Black
- King g8
- Rook d8
- Bishop b4
- Pawn a7
- Pawn b7
- Pawn d5
- Pawn f7
- Pawn g7
- Pawn h7
Step 6 of 6
Nimzowitsch and today
Source
Nimzowitsch devotes a whole chapter to the pinned piece. For him, a pin involves three pieces: the one that pins, the pinned one and the piece behind it. Because the pinned piece cannot flee, he says, an attack on it by a pawn is decisive, and at the same time you must stop your opponent from breaking the pin. A knight, he writes, is always fully pinned, while other pieces can still move along the line. Text and positions are newly written for the course.
- My System, chapter 7 (in German): “Der gefesselte Stein” (original text not yet published)
- My System, 7.2 (in German): “Der Begriff des ganz und der des halbgefesselten Steines” (original text not yet published)
Today’s view (editorial note)
Today the pin is one of the most important tactical motifs. Always check whether your opponent can break it, for example with a king move or a counter-attack.