Skewer
The skewer is another highly common tactic which occurs when a less valuable piece is able to capture a more valuable piece behind a king by checking the king. It’s essentially a backwards pin. Let’s take a look at an example.
The below is an example of a skewer.
Notice that the bishop is the piece doing the skewer, and it is “skewering” the black king to the black rook. Since the black king is in check, it must move out of the way next move. Upon doing so, the white bishop is able to capture the black rook on h8.
Note that the above example is also a skewer. Even though the black king can defend the black rook by playing Ke6 or Kf5, white wins the exchange after Bxf6 and Kxf6 because a bishop is worth three points while a rook is worth five, meaning white has won two points.
Now let’s try another example. How can white create a skewer in the below position?
Bh6+! Now, the black king is forced to move to g8 or h8. After moving, the white bishop can capture the rook on f8, winning the exchange.
You may be wondering, which pieces can skewer? Only bishops, rooks, and queens can create skewers. The rest of the pieces cannot. Let’s try another example.
Qb3+! The black king is forced to move because it is in check, and once it does, the white queen can capture the black queen which is on g8.
This is still considered a skewer because even though both queens are the same value, the white queen is able to win the entire nine points of the black queen after Qb3+ and not just a trade (which results in no gained points).
Try one last example. In the below position, it is white to play.This one is a little tricky so be careful!
Rf7+! You may have been tempted to play Be5+ (which still is considered a skewer), but after Kb7, Bxb8, and Kxb8, white is still losing.
Instead, there is an even better skewer that white can play in this position. The solution is Rf7+! This forces the black king to move, and once it does, white wins an entire rook by playing Rxa7. There is no square that the king can go to which defends the rook on a7.
Great job! Now you know how a skewer works. Pay careful attention in your games for skewers because they appear quite often.
Author: Saharsh Satheesh
