In Chess there are multiple terms and tactics that can be used and seen in games
These are the most common ones
“Pin”
“Skewer”
“Fork”
“Discovery Attack”
“Decoy”
“Deflection”
“Check”
“Checkmate”
“Stalemate”
But what do they all mean?
Pins: A Pin in Chess is when there is a piece attacking one piece and there’s a more valuable piece behind it , there are 2 types of pins, a relative and an absolute pin , a relative pin is when a piece can move , but doesn’t want to be moved because it could lose a more valuable piece like a Queen or Rook, occasionally checkmates
An Absolute Pin is when a piece is pinned to the king and can absolutely not move at all
Ways to take advantage of a pin is you can take a piece for free knowing they can’t take back , you can add more pressure until they cannot defend the piece any longer and they have to give it up
Skewer : It’s like a Pin but it’s to opposite of one , a skewer is when a piece attacks a more valuable piece with a less valuable piece behind it, the piece has no choice but to move and let the other piece behind it get captured
Fork: This is when one piece attacks 2 or multiple pieces at the same time, the opponent has no choice but to give up one of his pieces , this move is usually guaranteed to win a piece and give you a better winning advantage , any piece is able to fork , even the King
Discovery Attack: This is when a piece gets out of another pieces way to reveal an attack on an opponents piece , occasionally the piece moved to reveal an attack is used against the King, certain times the piece uncovering an attack can attack another piece at the same time winning material
Decoy: This is when a piece gets lured into a vulnerable square where it can be captured sooner if later
Deflection: This is when you attack to piece to stop it from protecting another piece or square that is important , this ends up usually leading to a loss of pieces or checkmate
Check : The most self explanatory term of Chess, this is when a piece attacks the opposing King forcing it to make a move to stop the attack , there are 3 ways to get your king out of check , one is via covering the check , another one is via moving the king and the final one is capturing the attacking piece
Checkmate : Similar to a check but there’s nothing the King can do, the King has no legal moves , no piece can take the attacking piece , no piece can cover , therefore the king is lost and the game ends
Stalemate : Similar to Checkmate except the opponent had absolutely no legal moves they can make and they’re not in check therefore the game ends in a draw
(#CHESSPOSTCOMP)