A skewer is a pin flipped around: you attack the big piece in front so it’s forced to move, then you grab the piece hiding behind it. Skewer puzzles train that specific bit of vision — spotting two enemy pieces on one line with the valuable one out front. The set below is live and pulled from real games. Solve a batch and skewers on the open board, especially against a king, start feeling automatic.
How to use this page
- Look for a check first — a skewer with check is the most forcing kind.
- Trace the line past the front piece to what’s behind it.
- Got it wrong? Ask which piece was forced to move, and what it left behind.
Your move — solve the position
Real positions from real games. Solve one, and the next appears.
Take that instinct to a live board — 3D chess with character skins & rewards.
What is a skewer, exactly?
A skewer is when a rook, bishop, or queen attacks a valuable enemy piece that has a less valuable piece (or nothing) directly behind it on the same line. The front piece is too important to stay put, so it moves — and you capture whatever was standing behind it. The most brutal version is a skewer against the king: you check the king along a line, it’s forced to step aside, and you snap up the queen or rook that was sheltering behind it. Think of it as the mirror image of the pin: with a pin the valuable piece is behind; with a skewer it’s in front. Our full guide to the skewer lays out every pattern.
How to spot a skewer (the cues that matter)
- Hunt for checks along a line. If you can check the enemy king down a rank, file, or diagonal, look at what’s behind the king — that’s your prize.
- Value in front, target behind. The skewer needs the bigger piece nearer to your attacker. Two enemy pieces on one line with the queen out front? Skewer alert.
- Use your long-range pieces. Only rooks, bishops, and queens skewer. When one has a clear line to a valuable enemy piece, follow the line all the way.
- Force the move. The front piece has to be compelled to move — a check does that for free, but any attack it can’t ignore works too.
- Watch your own king lines. If your king and queen line up, you might be walking into a skewer yourself.
Common mistakes to dodge
- Confusing it with a pin. In a pin the front piece is stuck; in a skewer it’s forced to leave. Getting these backwards changes who moves and what you win.
- Skewering toward a defended piece. If the piece behind is guarded, you win it but may lose your attacker. Count the defenders.
- Missing the check version. A skewer that comes with check is far stronger — the king must move, no choices. Always check for checks first.
- Letting the front piece block instead of move. Sometimes the opponent can interpose a third piece. Verify the line can’t simply be blocked.
Keep training
- Learn the full pattern: what a skewer is and how it differs from a pin.
- Drill the opposite motif: pin puzzles.
- Build all-around tactical vision with fork puzzles.
- Study the family both belong to: x-ray puzzles.
- Back to the full puzzle library.
Skewer puzzle FAQ
What’s the difference between a skewer and a pin? Position of the valuable piece. In a pin it’s behind the attacked piece (which is stuck). In a skewer it’s in front (and forced to move, exposing the piece behind).
Why are king skewers so strong? Because a check is completely forcing — the king has no choice but to move, so the piece behind it can’t be defended in time.
Which pieces can skewer? Only the long-range pieces: rook, bishop, and queen. They’re the ones that attack down full lines.
Where do these puzzles come from? Real positions from the Lichess open puzzle database (CC0), each engine-verified at the source.
Curated and written by the Chess Lab Academy Editorial Team (AI-assisted, human-edited) · Puzzles from the Lichess open database (CC0) · Last verified 2026-07-13 · How we verify content.