What is the skewer chess tactic?
The skewer is a chess tactic that involves attacking a piece that is more valuable with a piece that is less valuable, forcing the opponent to move the more valuable piece and expose a weaker piece to capture. The idea behind this tactic is to gain material advantage by exploiting the opponent’s lack of defense.
A skewer is a tactical motif in which a less valuable piece attacks a more valuable piece, forcing the opponent to move the more valuable piece and expose a weaker piece to capture. A skewer can be direct or indirect. A direct skewer is one where the less valuable piece attacks the more valuable piece directly. An indirect skewer is one where the less valuable piece attacks the more valuable piece indirectly, usually through a discovered attack.
Skewers can occur in many different ways, depending on the position of the pieces on the board. For example, a queen can skewers a rook and a knight, a rook can skewer a queen and a bishop, or a knight can skewer a queen and a rook.
Skewers can be very powerful in the endgame, because they can create threats against the king or against a piece that is more valuable. For example, a rook that skewers a queen can be used to create a passed pawn or to force the opponent’s king into a mating net.