Middle Game Tactics in Chess

Learn pins, forks, skewers, discovered attacks and more — with simple explanations and examples you can recreate on Lichess.

📚 Quick Navigation

1. The Pin

Attack a piece that cannot move

2. The Fork

Attack two pieces at once

3. The Skewer

Force a valuable piece to move

4. Discovered Attack

Reveal a hidden threat

5. Double Attack

Create multiple threats

6. Removing the Defender

Eliminate a key guard

1. The Pin Beginner

A pin happens when a piece can’t move because it would expose a more valuable piece behind it. Absolute pins target the king; relative pins target the queen or another heavy piece.

Absolute pin example
Move sequence (reader-friendly):
1. Bb3! pins the knight to the king. If ...Nc5? then 2. Bxe6 and White wins the pinned piece.

Key points

  • Absolute pins are the strongest: the pinned piece cannot legally move.
  • Line up on files/ranks/diagonals with bishops and rooks.
  • Once a piece is pinned, attack it again to win material.

2. The Fork (Knight) Beginner

A fork is one move that threatens two targets at once. Knights excel at forks thanks to their L-shaped jump.

Knight fork example
Move sequence:
1. Nc7+! (royal fork). After ...Kd7 White plays 2. Nxa8 and wins the rook.

3. The Skewer Intermediate

A skewer is like a reverse pin: you attack the more valuable piece first, forcing it to move and exposing a piece behind it.

Rook skewer example
Move sequence:
1. Ra8+! (check). When the king moves, White plays 2. Rxa8 and collects the piece behind.

When it appears

  • Open lines for rooks/bishops/queen.
  • Alignment: valuable piece in front, cheaper piece behind.
  • Check skewers are the most forcing.

4. Discovered Attack Intermediate

A discovered attack occurs when moving one piece reveals an attack from another piece behind it. The most powerful form is a discovered check.

Discovered check example
Move sequence:
1. Nc6+! (discovered check by the rook). After ...Kd7 White plays 2. Nxd8 and wins the queen.

Practice ideas

Double check

Both the moved piece and the revealed piece give check — extremely forcing.

Windmill

Repeated discovered checks that win material each time.

5. Double Attack (Queen) Beginner

A double attack creates two threats at once, overloading the defender.

Queen double attack example
Move sequence:
1. Qa4! attacks the rook on a8 and the knight on h4 simultaneously. Black can only save one: next comes 2. Qxa8 or 2. Qxh4.

6. Removing the Defender Intermediate

When a piece is defended only once, capture or deflect that defender and the target often falls.

Removing the defender example
Move sequence:
1. Bxf5! removes the sole defender of the knight. After ...exf5, White plays 2. Rxd6 and wins the knight.

💡 Strategic insight

Count attackers vs defenders. If you can eliminate or deflect the key guard, the “protected” piece becomes loose.