Week 7 — Skewers: Coach Answer Key

Quick-reference solutions for all 10 exercises

Puzzles 1–9 preserve the ChessGo Easiest sample positions and move sequences. Puzzle 10 is original.

White to move

Puzzle 1

Find the best move

Find a skewer that wins material.

Hint: Look for a rook check that lines the king up with the bishop behind it.

Correct line: 1. Re8+ Kd7 2. Rxe4
Re8+ attacks the king first. When the king steps away, the rook continues down the e-file and wins the bishop on e4.
FEN: 1R6/5p2/p3k1p1/1p6/1P2b3/4N2P/5PPK/1r6 w - - 0 1

Source: ChessGo — “Skewer Puzzles — Easiest difficulty” sample PDF; redrawn from source position.

White to move

Puzzle 2

Find the best move

Find a skewer that wins material.

Hint: Can the bishop give check and point through the king toward the rook?

Correct line: 1. Be4+ Kd6 2. Bxa8
Be4+ puts the king in front of the rook on a8 along the same diagonal. After the king moves, Bxa8 wins the rook.
FEN: r7/6p1/7p/3k3P/3p1KP1/3B4/5N2/8 w - - 0 1

Source: ChessGo — “Skewer Puzzles — Easiest difficulty” sample PDF; redrawn from source position.

White to move

Puzzle 3

Find the best move

Find a skewer that wins material.

Hint: Find a rook check on the same file as the black rook.

Correct line: 1. Rf8+ Ke7 2. Rxf5
Rf8+ forces the king off the f-file. The rook then travels down the open file and captures the rook on f5.
FEN: 2R5/8/5k2/5r2/4K3/8/8/8 w - - 0 1

Source: ChessGo — “Skewer Puzzles — Easiest difficulty” sample PDF; redrawn from source position.

Black to move

Puzzle 4

Find the best move

Find a skewer that wins material.

Hint: Use a rook check. Which white rook sits behind the king on the same file?

Correct line: 1... Rd1+ 2. Kc3 Rxd7
Rd1+ skewers the king on d3 and the rook on d7. The king must move; then Black takes the rook.
FEN: 8/p2R4/5k2/1P4pp/P4p2/3K1P2/5P1P/4r3 b - - 0 1

Source: ChessGo — “Skewer Puzzles — Easiest difficulty” sample PDF; redrawn from source position.

White to move

Puzzle 5

Find the best move

Find a skewer that wins material.

Hint: Check along the a-file. What valuable piece is hiding behind the king?

Correct line: 1. Ra1+ Kxb4 2. Rxa8
Ra1+ checks the king on a3. After the king captures on b4, the a-file is clear and White takes the rook on a8.
FEN: r7/7p/1p1p2p1/5p2/1P1PpP2/k3P2P/7P/1R1K4 w - - 0 1

Source: ChessGo — “Skewer Puzzles — Easiest difficulty” sample PDF; redrawn from source position.

Black to move

Puzzle 6

Find the best move

Find a skewer that wins material.

Hint: Move the rook to give check on the e-file. What sits behind the king?

Correct line: 1... Re6+ 2. Kf3 Rxe2
Re6+ attacks the king first. Once the king leaves the e-file, the rook drops down to e2 and wins the queen.
FEN: 8/5b1p/5rk1/8/4K3/8/4Q3/8 b - - 0 1

Source: ChessGo — “Skewer Puzzles — Easiest difficulty” sample PDF; redrawn from source position.

White to move

Puzzle 7

Find the best move

Find a skewer that wins material.

Hint: Put the rook on the same file as the king and the rook behind it.

Correct line: 1. Re1+ Kf3 2. Rxe7
Re1+ puts the king in front of the rook on e7. After the king moves, Rxe7 wins the rear target.
FEN: 8/4r1p1/5pK1/8/4k3/8/8/R7 w - - 0 1

Source: ChessGo — “Skewer Puzzles — Easiest difficulty” sample PDF; redrawn from source position.

Black to move

Puzzle 8

Find the best move

Find a skewer that wins material.

Hint: Look for a bishop check that points through the king toward a rook.

Correct line: 1... Bh4+ 2. Ke2 Bxe1
Bh4+ attacks the king on f2 along the diagonal. When the king moves to e2, the same bishop takes the rook on e1.
FEN: 4rrk1/2p1b1p1/2p3p1/1p2P3/4P3/1bPB1P1P/5K2/R1B1R3 b - - 0 1

Source: ChessGo — “Skewer Puzzles — Easiest difficulty” sample PDF; redrawn from source position.

Black to move

Puzzle 9

Find the best move

Find a skewer that wins material.

Hint: Find a rook check on the f-file. Which white rook is behind the king?

Correct line: 1... Rf5+ 2. Kg3 Rxf1
Rf5+ forces the king off the f-file. The rook then runs down to f1 and captures White’s rook.
FEN: 8/5kpp/4b3/1r5P/3B1K1P/8/8/5R2 b - - 0 1

Source: ChessGo — “Skewer Puzzles — Easiest difficulty” sample PDF; redrawn from source position.

White to move

Puzzle 10

Find the best move

Find a skewer that wins material.

Hint: Can your bishop give check and point through the king toward the queen?

Correct line: 1. Be4+! and after the king leaves the diagonal, 2. Bxh7
Be4+ creates a bishop skewer. The king must leave the e4–f5–g6–h7 diagonal, so White can capture the queen on h7 next.
FEN: 8/7q/8/5k2/8/8/2B5/6K1 w - - 0 1

Source: Original teaching diagram created for this lesson.

Sources and provenance

Source position / exercise derived from source puzzle: ChessGo.In, “Skewer Puzzles — Easiest difficulty” sample PDF, https://www.chessgo.in/pdf/Skewer_puzzles_Easiest_difficulty_ChessGo.in.pdf. Exercises 1–9 are redrawn from the nine positions shown in that sample; side to move and source move sequence were preserved.

Concept adapted from: Chess.com, “Skewer — Chess Terms”, https://www.chess.com/terms/skewer-chess, and Chess.com “Every Chess Tactic Explained: Skewers”, https://www.chess.com/lessons/every-chess-tactic-explained/every-chess-tactic-explained-skewers.

Concept adapted from: Lichess study, “Tactics: Skewer (Beginner)”, https://lichess.org/study/kkbRhzPr/EXrwMZQh.

Original teaching diagrams: Worked examples 1–10 and exercise 10 were constructed for this handout and programmatically checked for move geometry, king safety, and the stated tactical line.