Skewer
A skewer attacks a valuable piece that stands in front of a less valuable one on the same line. The front piece must run, and the piece behind it is then taken.
In practice: look for a skewer whenever a king or queen stands on the same line as a lesser piece, because the front piece has to move and the piece behind it is left hanging.
Also called: reverse pin
Think of a skewer as a pin turned around. In a pin the cheaper piece stands in front and is held in place by the dearer piece behind it. In a skewer the dearer piece stands in front, so it is the one forced to run, and whatever it was shielding is now exposed.
The line can be a rank, a file or a diagonal, and the attacker is a bishop, rook or queen. The sharpest skewers hit the king, because a king in check must leave the line at once and has no say in the matter. A queen can be skewered too: she steps aside and a rook or bishop behind her is lost.
Skewers show up constantly in rook endgames, where a rook checks along a rank or file with an enemy rook behind the king, and in middlegames where king and queen end up on one diagonal. To find one, look at every enemy piece that shares a line with the king or queen and ask whether you can reach the other end of that line with a check or a threat. To avoid being skewered, keep your king and queen off the same lines, particularly open files, and watch where enemy rooks can land.
In the diagram White plays Rh8+. The rook checks along the eighth rank, and the black queen on b8 stands further along the same rank, hidden behind the king. After the king steps off the rank, Rxb8 takes the queen.
It sits close to Pin. A pin ties a piece to its square: a bishop, rook or queen attacks it, and stepping aside would expose a more valuable piece standing behind it on the same line.
Compare it with X-ray attack. An x-ray is hidden pressure: a bishop, rook or queen bears on a piece or square beyond an enemy piece in its way, and the pressure turns real once the blocker moves or is exchanged.
It sits close to Absolute pin. An absolute pin is a pin in which the piece behind the pinned piece is the king, so the pinned piece cannot legally move off the line at all.
Knowing "Skewer" helps most once you can spot it in a real game. A first lesson with George Li starts from your own games and finds the tactics you keep missing.
Related terms
A pin ties a piece to its square: a bishop, rook or queen attacks it, and stepping aside would expose a more valuable piece standing behind it on the same line.
An absolute pin is a pin in which the piece behind the pinned piece is the king, so the pinned piece cannot legally move off the line at all.
In a discovered attack one of your pieces steps off a line, and that move unmasks a bishop, rook or queen standing behind it, so a single turn produces two threats.
A fork is a move that leaves one of your pieces threatening two enemy pieces together. Because the opponent gets only one turn to respond, something usually falls.
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