Chess tactics
The trapped piece: on the board, already lost
A trapped piece has no safe square. It’s still on the board, but it can’t get out — so you win it at your leisure.
4,220 vetted trapped pieces puzzlesTrain trapped pieces →
Pieces that wander after a pawn, or stray onto the rim, are the usual victims: a bishop deep in your position, a knight on the edge, a rook that grabbed a pawn and can’t get home. Cover the escape squares first, then bring up a second attacker.
How to spot it
- Spot an enemy piece whose retreat squares are all covered or blocked.
- A greedy rook or bishop that took a pawn is a classic candidate.
- Take away the last flight square, then attack the piece.
From the corpus
Three real trapped pieces, each verified by Stockfish at depth 22. Click any one to solve it.
More tactics
Forks
A fork is a single piece attacking two or more enemy pieces at the same time. Your opponent can only save one — you take the other.
Pins
A pin freezes an enemy piece against a more valuable one behind it. It can’t move without giving up the piece in the rear — so you pile up on it and win it.
Skewers
A skewer attacks a valuable piece in front; when it steps aside, the piece behind it on the same line falls.
Discovered attacks
A discovered attack moves one piece out of the way to open fire from the piece behind it. Two threats land at once, and your opponent often can’t meet both.
Deflection
A defender is doing important work — guarding a mating square, holding a piece. Deflection gives it something it can’t refuse, and once it moves, what it guarded falls.
Back-rank mates
A rook or queen reaches the back rank and mates a king boxed in by its own unmoved pawns. With no escape square, one heavy piece ends it.