Attacking motifs
Skewer in chess
By Antoine TamanoUpdated
A skewer in chess is a line attack on a valuable piece that, when it moves, exposes the piece behind it.
A skewer is a line attack, by a bishop, a rook or a queen, on a valuable piece with a less valuable one behind it on the same line. The front piece must move (it is the king, or it is worth too much to leave), and when it does, the piece behind is taken. It is the pin turned around: in a pin the prize is the piece behind and the front piece is stuck; in a skewer the front piece runs and the prize is what it uncovers.
What makes a skewer WORK is that the front piece has no move that keeps the line covered. The king in front is the perfect case: a check has to be answered, and a king cannot block for the piece behind it. A queen in front is nearly as good, unless it can capture the attacker or step to a square that still guards the piece behind. So before you play a skewer, check that the attacker is safe, or protected, and count where the front piece can go.
How to spot it: two enemy pieces on the same rank, file or diagonal with the more valuable one nearer to you, and a line piece of yours able to reach that line, with check if possible. A king and a queen on the same diagonal is the classic; a queen that just captured on the same file as a loose piece is the version that actually happens in games.
At higher level the skewer is quiet: no check, just a bishop dropping onto a diagonal that a queen and a rook share, and an opponent who sees one move too late that saving the queen means losing the rook. And it is prepared: a check or a sacrifice first, to put the two pieces on one line, then the skewer.
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Questions
What is a skewer in chess?
A skewer is a line attack on a valuable piece that, when it moves out of the way, exposes a less valuable piece behind it to capture. It is sometimes called a reverse pin, because the pin attacks the smaller piece in front and the skewer attacks the bigger one.
What is the difference between a pin and a skewer?
The order of the pieces on the line. In a pin the smaller piece is in front and the bigger one behind, so the front piece is frozen. In a skewer the bigger piece is in front, so it moves away (it has to) and the piece behind it is taken. Both are delivered by a queen, rook or bishop.
How do you set up a skewer?
Get two enemy pieces onto the same line with the more valuable one nearer to you, then attack along it. A check is the strongest version, because the king must move and whatever stood behind it is simply lost. Deflections and sacrifices that force a king or queen onto an open line are the usual way to arrange one.
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