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TacticsPlay as white

Trapped Pieces

A piece with nowhere to go is already lost — you only have to walk over and take it.

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Introduction

Not every piece you win has to be captured by force. Sometimes a piece simply runs out of squares — a knight in the corner, a bishop behind its own pawns — and then a single attacker is enough. The tactic is counting, not calculating.

Lesson Content

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Try this position

The black knight on h8 can only ever reach g6 and f7. The white king on f6 covers both of them. That knight is going nowhere — one more attacker and it is simply White's, a free piece without a tactic.

Trapped Piece
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1. ..Kg7

Walk the king up to attack it. The knight still has no square to run to, so next move White simply takes it and the pawn on h7 queens.

Trapped Piece
Alternative Moves
Kf5 — Chasing the g-pawn instead gives the knight its freedom, and Black's own pawn runs: 1...g4 and it reaches g1 and queens first — White goes from winning a piece to losing the game.
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2. c7

The pawn steps up and attacks the bishop on b8 — and blocks its diagonal at the same time. The bishop's only remaining square is a7, which the pawn on b6 covers, so Black has to take on c7 and let White recapture with a pawn that queens.

Trapped Piece
Alternative Moves
Kc3 — Any slow king move lets Black bring his own king across to d6, and the pawns are stopped.
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Try this position

The black bishop on h8 lives on one diagonal, and White has a pawn on g6 that can step onto it. Notice that the bishop has no other square at all — the corner is the worst place on the board for a bishop. Block that one diagonal with a pawn and the bishop has to give itself up for it.

Trapped Piece
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3. g7

The pawn walks right up to the bishop. Taking it is Black's only way to stop the pawn, so the trapped bishop goes for a single pawn — and after hxg7 White has won a piece for a pawn and has a passer one square from queening.

Trapped Piece
Alternative Moves
Bd3 — Moving the white bishop hands Black the move he needs: 1...Be5 brings the trapped bishop out along the long diagonal and the position is level.
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Every escape the black bishop on h5 has runs through g4, and the square behind it on the other diagonal, g6, is taken by its own king. Which move shuts the door?

Trapped Piece
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Which piece is trapped most often, and why?

Trapped Piece

Key Takeaways

  • A piece with no safe square only needs one attacker.
  • Pawns are the best trappers: nothing wants to be attacked by one.
  • Corners and edges are where pieces get trapped — knights and bishops especially.

Now play it through

Step through every move on a real board, try the wrong ones, and ask Knighty why they fail.

Practice Interactively

Related Lessons

Mate in Two

Hanging Pieces

Mate in One

Summary

Before you calculate, count squares. If an enemy piece has none, you do not need a tactic at all — you need one more attacker, and pawns are the cheapest attackers there are.

Ready to Practice?

Practice Interactively

Next in this course

Deflection and Decoy

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