Five tactical patterns win most of the material in beginner games: the fork, the pin, the skewer, the discovered attack and the double attack. All five come down to one idea, which is that a single move creates a problem the opponent cannot fully answer. This page takes them one at a time, shows the squares and pieces that make each work, and ends with how to spot them over the board.
It goes deeper on these five than the chess tactics guide for beginners, which also covers checkmate patterns, calculation and practice routines. If you want the whole picture first, start there and come back.
What is a fork in chess?
A fork is a single move that attacks two or more enemy pieces at once. The opponent has one move, so they can usually save only one of the pieces, and you take the other.
A fork works best when three things line up:
- the forking piece attacks at least two targets that are worth taking;
- the forking piece cannot simply be captured on its new square;
- the opponent has no check or bigger threat that wins a tempo and breaks the fork.
That last point is why a fork that comes with check is so strong. If the fork is also a check, the opponent has to deal with the king first and has no time to save the second piece.
How do knight forks work?
Knights fork more often than any other piece, for two reasons. The knight jumps over other pieces, so nothing stands in its way, and its L-shaped move lands on squares that are easy to overlook. A beginner looking along rows, columns and diagonals can miss a knight jump entirely.
Here White can fork the black king and a rook with one jump:
White to move
Black: king e8, rook a8, pawn d7, pawn f7, pawn g7, pawn h7.
Nc7+ puts the knight on c7, where it checks the king on e8 and attacks the rook on a8 in the same move. Black has to answer the check, and the next move the knight takes the rook. When a knight forks a king and a queen, it is called a royal fork, and it is the one to watch for in your own games.
To find knight forks, look at the squares a knight can reach in one jump, then ask what each of those squares attacks. A useful habit is to check which of your opponent's pieces sit a knight's move apart from the same square: two such pieces mean a fork is waiting.
How do pawn forks work?
A pawn fork is quieter, and it wins material because a pawn is worth so much less than the pieces it hits. A pawn attacks the two squares diagonally in front of it, so a pawn that steps forward between two enemy pieces attacks both.
White to move
Black: king g8, bishop d6, knight f6, pawn f7, pawn g7, pawn h7.
White plays e5, and the pawn attacks both the bishop on d6 and the knight on f6. The pawn on d4 protects it. If Black takes the pawn with the bishop, the d-pawn takes back and White has won a bishop for a pawn. If either piece moves away, the pawn takes the other.
Pawn forks turn up often in the opening and early middlegame, when minor pieces sit on squares that a central pawn can reach. Before you advance a pawn, check whether it would attack anything; before the opponent does, check whether their pawn can step up and hit two of your pieces.
What is a pin in chess?
A pin is an attack on a piece that either cannot move, or should not move, because a more valuable piece stands behind it on the same line. Only bishops, rooks and queens can pin, because the pinning piece has to attack along a line.
What is the difference between an absolute pin and a relative pin?
- In an absolute pin, the piece behind is the king. The pinned piece may not move off the line at all, because that would put its own king in check. The rules forbid it.
- In a relative pin, the piece behind is something valuable but not the king, such as a queen or a rook. The pinned piece may legally move, but doing so loses the piece behind it, so it usually should not.
Here is an absolute pin that wins a queen:
White to move
Black: king e8, queen e5.
White plays Re1. The rook lines up with the black queen on e5 and the king behind her on e8, so the queen cannot leave the e-file without exposing her own king. Her best try is to take the rook, and then the white king on f2 takes her back. White has given up a rook and won a queen.
A second example shows a bishop doing the same job on a diagonal:
White to move
Black: king e8, queen d7, pawn f7, pawn g7, pawn h7.
The bishop goes to b5, attacking the queen on d7 with the black king behind her on the same diagonal. The queen is stuck. If she takes the bishop, the knight on c3 takes her, so White trades a bishop for a queen.
A pin is rarely the end of the story on its own. The usual way to win a pinned piece is to attack it again, with a pawn or another piece, because it cannot run away. A pinned piece also defends poorly: it cannot be counted on to recapture if moving would expose the piece behind it.
What is a skewer in chess?
A skewer is a pin in reverse. The more valuable piece is in front, and it is attacked first. It has to move, and the piece behind it is then captured.
The easiest way to tell the two apart is to ask which piece is in front:
| Piece in front | Piece behind | What happens | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pin | Less valuable | More valuable | The front piece is stuck, or moving it loses the piece behind |
| Skewer | More valuable | Less valuable | The front piece must move, and the piece behind is lost |
A simple skewer: White has a king on g1 and a rook on b1. Black has a king on d5 and a queen on d8. White plays Rd1+, and the rook checks along the d-file with the queen standing behind the king on the same file. The king has to leave the file, every legal king move does, and then Rxd8 takes the queen. The king was the front piece, so it moved; the queen behind it was lost.
Skewers are most common along open files, ranks and long diagonals in the endgame, where the king is often the front piece because it is forced to move. Look for an enemy king and a valuable piece on the same line, then ask whether a rook, bishop or queen of yours can reach that line with check.
What is a discovered attack?
A discovered attack happens when you move one piece out of the way and uncover an attack by another piece behind it. Two things then happen at once: the piece that moved can make a threat of its own, and the piece that was uncovered is attacking something.
The version to learn first is the discovered check, because it is the hardest for the opponent to answer. A rook sits behind a knight on the same file as the enemy king. The knight jumps away, and now the rook gives check. Black has to deal with the check, so the knight, which has just moved, is free to capture a queen or make any threat it likes without being answered.
A double check is the strongest form. The piece that moved gives check, and so does the piece it uncovered. A single move cannot capture two checking pieces or block two lines, so the only legal reply is to move the king.
To look for one, find a long-range piece of yours (a bishop, rook or queen) with one of your own pieces standing in its way, aimed at something that matters. Then ask where the blocking piece could go with a threat or a capture.
What is a double attack?
A double attack is any move that creates two threats at once. A fork is the best-known kind, but the idea is wider:
- a queen move that attacks an undefended piece and threatens checkmate;
- a rook that attacks two loose pieces along one row;
- a discovered attack in which the piece that moved makes a threat as well.
The two threats do not have to be against pieces. A move that attacks a rook and also threatens to give checkmate is a double attack, and it usually wins the rook because the opponent has to stop the mate. The test is simple: can the opponent answer both threats with a single move? If not, you have won something.
How do you spot tactical opportunities?
Patterns are easier to see when you ask the same few questions every move:
- Which enemy pieces are loose? A piece that nothing protects is the usual target, and so is a piece protected only once but attacked twice.
- Which of their pieces share a line, a diagonal or a knight's jump? Two targets that line up are the raw material for a fork, a pin or a skewer.
- Where is their king? A king that is short of escape squares makes every check stronger.
- What do my checks, captures and threats do? Looking at every forcing move, not only the first one that catches your eye, is how a fork you had not noticed appears.
- What does my opponent threaten? The same patterns work against you, so ask the question for their side as well.
The same board that gives you a fork can give your opponent one, so run through the checklist for both sides before you move.
What mistakes do beginners make with these tactics?
- Forking with a piece that can be taken. A fork wins nothing if the forking piece is simply captured on arrival. Check what attacks the square first.
- Pinning and then doing nothing. A pin is only a threat. The follow-up, such as attacking the pinned piece again, is what wins material.
- Confusing pins and skewers. If the less valuable piece is in front, it is a pin; if the more valuable piece is in front, it is a skewer. They are won in different ways.
- Moving the front piece of a relative pin without counting. Sometimes it is still correct to move a relatively pinned piece, if what it wins is worth more than what it exposes. The point is to count, not to assume.
- Missing the opponent's in-between move. A check, or a bigger threat, can break a fork or a discovered attack before it pays off.
- Learning the answer instead of the shape. Remembering one puzzle's solution teaches that puzzle. Asking "what made this work?" teaches the pattern.
How should you practise forks, pins and skewers?
Work by pattern first, then mix. A set of ten forks in a row makes the fork shape familiar; a mixed set afterwards checks whether you can tell which pattern you are looking at when nobody has named it.
Solve before you touch the pieces. Decide on a move, then check it. Setting up a position on a real board is useful while diagrams are new to you, and solving from the page trains you to see moves without moving anything. Read the explanation even when you were right, because it often shows a defence you did not consider.
For a free set, the ten printable chess puzzles for kids, with answers include two forks and two pins, and they suit adults who are new to tactics as well. For a large supply of positions taken from real games, 1000+ Chess Puzzles for Beginners covers forks, pins, skewers and discovered attacks among its eleven tactical themes, with nothing longer than two moves. A child who knows how the pieces move can start with Chess Tactics for Kids, which uses six large diagrams to a page.
Questions beginners ask about chess tactics
Which tactic should I learn first?
The fork. It needs the least explanation and it turns up in almost every game. Pins and skewers come next, since both depend on seeing pieces that share a line. Discovered attacks come last, because you have to see what your own pieces are hiding as well as what the enemy's are.
Can a pawn really pin a piece?
No. Pins need a piece that attacks along a line, so only bishops, rooks and queens can pin. Pawns and knights can fork, but they cannot pin or skewer.
Is a skewer the same as a pin?
They look alike and work in opposite ways. In a pin the less valuable piece is in front and it is stuck. In a skewer the more valuable piece is in front, it has to move, and you win the piece behind it.
How do I stop my opponent forking me?
Look at the squares their knights and pawns can reach next move, and see what they would attack from there. If a square would attack two of your pieces, either cover it, move one of the targets, or make a bigger threat first.
Where do these patterns fit with checkmate?
They are the routes to it. Many mating attacks begin with a fork, a pin or a discovered check that removes a defender. If you are working on the checkmate side, the chess tactics guide for beginners has the main checkmate patterns, and mate-in-one chess puzzles for beginners gives the method for finding them.
