Week 7: Skewers
12-week course · lesson plan for a 60-minute live group class · for the coach
Lesson plan · Worksheet · Large print · Answer key · 12-week syllabus
Learning objective
Students can play a skewer: attack a valuable piece (often the king) so that when it moves, the piece behind it is won.
Before class (under 10 minutes)
Prerequisites: Week 6 (pins): a skewer is a pin turned around.
- Open "Week 7 demonstration".
- Have "Week 7 practice" ready in the Puzzles list.
Class plan, minute by minute
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| 0–5 min | Warm-up One pin from last week on the shared board. |
| 5–20 min | Shared board: skewers Load "Week 7 demonstration": a bishop skewer of king and queen, then a rook skewer along the back row. Compare with a pin: now the MORE valuable piece is in front. |
| 20–35 min | Puzzles on their own boards Puzzles → "Week 7 practice". Mixed-level group: "Week 7 all levels". |
| 35–52 min | Play each other Pair students and start. Challenge: keep your king and queen off the same line. |
| 52–60 min | Review Review questions below. Preview: next week, free pieces. |
Shared-board demonstration
In the lesson app: Lesson library → Week 7 demonstration: Skewers.
White to move: skewer the king and the queen.
The pawn on e4 protects the bishop, so the king can’t take it.
Answer: Bd5+ checks the king; the queen stands behind it on the same diagonal. After the king moves, Bxa8.
White to move: skewer along the back row.
Pin: valuable piece BEHIND. Skewer: valuable piece IN FRONT.
Answer: Ra8+ and then Rxh8.
Puzzles on every student’s own board
In class: Puzzles → choose the set → Start puzzles. Each student solves on their own board while you watch every board live. A wrong move gets a reason or a hint (for example “look for a check”), and any checkmate counts as solved.
- Everyone: Week 7 practice: Skewers (6 puzzles, including real-game puzzles from Lichess). The worksheet uses the same puzzles.
- Mixed-level group: Week 7 all levels: Skewers (13 puzzles): the 3 easier ones first, then the practice set, then 4 harder ones, including real-game puzzles from Lichess. Each student goes at their own pace, so beginners stay with the easier puzzles while stronger students reach the harder ones.
- A whole group that needs more support: Week 7 easier: Skewers. A whole group ready for more: Week 7 harder: Skewers.
Check for understanding
- What is the difference between a pin and a skewer? Answer: In a pin the more valuable piece is behind; in a skewer it is in front and must move.
- Why does a skewer often start with a check? Answer: The king must move, so the piece behind it is left undefended.
- How do you avoid being skewered? Answer: Keep your king and queen (or rooks) off the same line as an enemy bishop, rook or queen.
Help for beginners
Ask the student to find two enemy pieces on one line with nothing between them, then a square where a piece of theirs can attack along that line.
For stronger students
"Week 7 harder": real-game skewers from Lichess.
Every position, answer and hint on this page is checked move by move with chess.js before it is published. Real-game puzzles come from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).