another unit can be moved onto the line of the pin; or the unit to which a piece is pinned can be moved. Pins commonly seen in gameplay A pin that often occurs in openings is the move Bb5 which, if Black has moved ...Nc6 and ...d6 or ...d5, pins the knight on c6, because moving the knight would expose the king on e8 to check. (The same may, of course, occur on the other flank, with a bishop on g5, or by Black on White, with a bishop on b4 or g4.) A common way to win the queen is to pin her to the king with a defended rook or bishop: for instance with the black queen on e5 and the black king on e8 and no other pieces on the e-file, the move Re1 by White would pin Black's queen. Examples from games The diagram shows Vladimir Lenin–Maxim Gorky, Capri 1908, with White to move. Black is threatening the following rook sacrifice and : 27... Rh1+ 28. Kxh1 Qh2 White cannot play 27.gxh3, because the queen on g3 is pinning the pawn to the g-file. The only move that postpones the mate is 27.Nf4, which temporarily blocks Black's bishop from protecting his queen, but to no avail as Black can simply play 27...Bxf4 renewing the mate threat. Or, Black can respond by mating a different way: 27. Nf4 Qh2+ 28. Kf2 Rhxf3# In this case, White cannot capture 29.gxf3 because the queen now on h2 pins the pawn to the 2nd rank. With mate being inevitable, White resigned after move 26. See also Chess terminology References Bibliography Chess tactics Chess terminology