A Coach's Best 'Pin' Positions!

Ahhh, the pin tactic! Everybody loves a good queen to king pin! The pin is so popular that sayings have been created about the tactic:

"Pin and Win!", or "The pin is mightier than the sword!" are two that quickly come to mind.

I would like to share three pin tactics that I enjoy using in my lessons.

The pin tactic above is always fun to show to a class as it is a real battle of the pins!

Here's another one that I like:

This is a good one to teach not to just play automatic moves such as trading queens in this position. Teach your students to look for more!

And here's a final one you'll like:

Giving away your queen for checkmate is one of the coolest ways to win at chess! My classes have always been surprised by the above problem.

Pins happen in every chess game, and developing a mastery of them is essential! From the basic pin to the surprising pin always brings joy to my students.

To get even better at pins, have your students watch this video explaining pins, this one showing how to use a pin, and this one showing the best pin of all time! Then, you can have them go and solve pin puzzles in our puzzles by theme feature.