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Breaking Pins by David Surratt "The pin is mightier than the sword" - Fred Reinfeld "The bigger they are, the harder they fall!" - Unknown The pin is one of the most common tactical themes, and by itself is responsible for winning many a game. Some pins, of course, are absolute, while others are relative, meaning the pinned piece can move, but at the peril of the piece it was pinned to. When one of your pieces is pinned, you need not sit idly by, awaiting your fate. In fact, to do so is an excellent way to lose! No, when your pieces are pinned, it is imperative to break the pin, and that's what we're going to look at in this article. Breaking pins usually requires forcing moves - moves that create threats so powerful, your opponent must answer them, leaving you time to save your own imperiled piece. Forcing moves often involve giving check, or threatening to give check (even checkmate!), while other forcing moves threaten to win material. The key here is that you must create a threat which is at least equal to the threat your opponent has against your own position. That is so important, it is worthy of repeating: The key is to create a threat which is at least equal to the threat your opponent has against your own position. Fred Reinfeld put it this way, "Forget about the common assumption that defending means passive maneuvers, patient crawling, endless dread of the decisive blow. There are many times when you can smash your opponent's attack with one vigorous thrust...In other words, play the defense in an aggressive mood." Here's how I see it: when your opponent has you between the proverbial rock and a hard spot, you can either die a slow painful death, or you can go out swinging. I'm going out swinging! Here is a typical example of how to break a pin by creating a threat which is at least equal to your opponent's threat:
Black's knight on e5 is pinned against the rook on b8; if he moves it, Black will lose the exchange. White has really piled up on it too, attacking it four times, including attacking it with a pawn, which is frequently one of the best pieces to attack a pinned piece with. Black smoothly sidesteps the pin though, taking advantage of White's unprotected bishop on c2, with 1...Rc8! Now if White protects or moves the bishop, the knight on e5 is free to move away to safety. In this position White makes use of a pin himself to break the power of his opponent's pin:
The White knight on c6 is pinned and attacked twice. How can White defend it? By counter-attack! 1.Qa8 and now it is Black's knight which is pinned. If 1...Qxc6 then 2.Qxb8 and White remains a piece ahead. Another example shows just how effective these counter-threats can be:
White has just effected an absolute pin of Black's queen. Black has an effective resource at his disposal however: 1...c2+, forking the king and rook. White is forced to capture the pawn by 2.Bxc2 (thereby relieving the pin) else lose his rook AND his bishop both. Here's an example of pins within pins within ....
How many pins can you count? Black's queen is pinned to his king, and White's c-pawn is pinned to his king. Black takes advantage of this pawn's illusory support of the b-pawn to save his own pinned piece. Remember: a pinned piece is not really defending any other pieces! 1...Rxb3+ 2.Bxb3 Qxb3+ and the power of the pin on White's c-pawn has been saved Black's queen from capture. Our next example involves a threat of checkmate:
Black's knight at f5 is pinned against his queen by White's bishop, and then attacked again by the rook on f1. How can Black save his piece? 1...Ne3 looks plausible, attacking White's queen in turn. The drawback is that after the queens come off the board with 2.Bxd7 Nxd1 Black's knight can be immediately captured by 3.Raxd1, while the White bishop on d7 is not attacked. Black loses a piece. Instead Black can win a piece himself by threatening checkmate: 1...Nxh4! and now if 2.Bxd7 comes a rude awakening for White: 2...Bxg2 mate! Instead White would need to play instead 2.Bf3, leaving Black a winning material and positional advantage. Ready to break out of some pins yourself? Try these practice positions, and remember to go out swinging! [Position A] [Position B] [Position C]
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