By Eric Morrow
Last week’s theme was the absolute pin. An absolute pin is when the king is the piece that would be exposed. In that instance, the pinned piece cannot move. A partial pin is when the pinned piece may move, but doing so would expose a more valuable piece.
With this hint in mind please try to find how white wins a piece.
Overlooking a partial pin is easier because it does not involve the king and often involves a counter-attack.. In this week’s position black has overlooked the power of white’s d1 rook’s pin on the black knight. The knight shields his queen.
Most likely black was enamored with the knight’s attack on the white bishop at f4 and its subsequent attack on the white queen at h5.
However, white first trades knights and takes the black knight with its c3 knight. Black’s only reasonable reply is to take the white knight with the bishop at c6.
White now delivers the fatal blow by advancing the c2 pawn to c4.
The bishop is partially pinned. Legally, the bishop can move, but no move offers a creative counter-attack that could save the piece.
Partial pins in contrast to absolute pins can sometimes be offset with a counterattack. But such a counterattack can sometimes be a mirage.
