Chess · Stage 4: Tactics
The skewer
A skewer hits the bigger piece first, and the smaller one falls behind it. Rooks, bishops and queens skewer along lines.
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A skewer is a pin turned round. The more valuable piece is in front. It is attacked and must move, and the piece behind it falls. Here a rook check on a7 would drive the king off the seventh rank, and then the rook takes on h7.
More practice, free: Skewer puzzles from real games, on Lichess.