Discovered check
In the context of chess, a discovered check is a discovered attack on a King. That is, one piece is moved out of the way of a second piece's attack on the King.[1][2]
As you cannot voluntarily place your own King in check, if one of your own pieces is in the way of such an attack, that piece is said to be pinned.
References
- "When the King is directly attacked by an adverse man, the move is called simply check; when the Piece or Pawn moved does not itself attack the King, but unmasks another which does, it is called a discovered check; and when both the man moved and the one unmasked attack the King, they are said to give double check." Chess: Theory and Practice Howard Staunton, 1876, pp. 48—49
- "Discovered check is really a kind of discovered attack, with this important difference: the 'discovering' piece moves away to allow its colleague to give check along the vacated line." 1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations Fred Reinfeld, 1955, ISBN 0-87980-111-5, p. 74
Chess terms: Attacking | Capturing | Check | Discovered check | Double check | Forking | Interposing | Line piece | Material | Pinning | Protection | Reply | Skewering
