Exploiting a pinned piece

You have imposed a pin. Great! But what should you do next? Once you have imposed a pin, there are four questions that you should to ask yourself:

• Can I use a pawn to pile up on the pinned piece? You can exploit the pin.
• Can I put pressure on the pinned piece by attacking it again? Try to pile up on the pinned piece with more attackers to outnumber it’s defenders. Often Black and White compete with each other in an attempt to surround the pinned piece with the most pieces.
• Can I drive defenders away from the pinned piece? This is a great trick if the enemy king is one of the defenders.
• Can I impose a second pin against the pinned piece? This tactic is called a cross-pin: the two pinning pieces form a cross.

What do you have to do?

Pile up on the pin to win material. Decide on the best way to exploit the pin.