Answers.Body: <p>It is not geometrically possible to have four pieces all on the same rank
  pinned to the King.  Nor is it possible for them to be all on the same
  file, or even the same diagonal.  Indeed call that line L.
  Any piece pinned to the King must be on one of four lines
  through the King's square, two orthogonal and two diagonal.
  If the King is on line L then there can be at most two pinned pieces,
  one on either side of the King.
  Otherwise L is parallel to one of the four King lines,
  and each of the other three meets L in at most one point
  (&quot;at most&quot; rather than exactly one point because the geometric intersection
  might be between squares, or off the chessboard).  So either way
  four is impossible.</p>
  <p>One might imagine four collinear pinned pieces on a line L that's
  neither orthogonal nor diagonal; this is not possible on an 8x8 board,
  but could happen on larger boards, e.g. with Kh1 one could have
  pieces pinned on b1, f3, h4, and n7 (with a 15th file to accommodate
  a pinning piece on o8).  Of course if we imagine unorthodox boards
  then we could also imagine unorthodox pieces
  that would allow for four or even more collinear pinned pieces.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
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Answers.Text: The question does not say they must be pinned to the king.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Brian McCutchon
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Answers.Text: True, and the poster should better clarify what "counts". (For example, if a piece with its mass blocks the access to a mating square, this sometimes is called "pin" either. Personally I wouldn't water it down: Pin: wA-bB-bC, if bB moves from the line wA-bC, wAxbC wins more material than wAxbB (i.e. it's no skewer), or the move was illegal in the first. I.e. wBa1-bQg7-bKh8 counts.
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Body: <p>In <a href="https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1522114" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Caruana–Berg (Dresden, 2008)</a>, after <strong>26...Ne6</strong>, White has pins on all three of Black's pieces on the 6th rank and eventually gets a winning endgame.<sup>[1]</sup></p>
  <pre><code>[FEN &quot;&quot;]
  [Title &quot;Caruana—Berg, Italy vs Sweden, Dresden Olympiad 2008 [C10]&quot;]
  [StartPly &quot;52&quot;]
  
  1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Nxf6+
  Nxf6 7. Bd3 c5 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. Qe2 O-O 10. O-O b6 11. Bg5 Bb7
  12. Rad1 Qc7 13. Ne5 Rfd8 14. Kh1 Be7 15. Rde1 h6 16. Bh4 Nd5
  17. Bg3 Bd6 18. Qe4 Nf6 19. Qh4 Nd7 20. Nxf7 Kxf7 21. Rxe6 Nc5
  22. Rxd6 Rxd6 23. Qf4+ Ke7 24. Re1+ Kd7 25. Bb5+ Bc6 26. Qf5+
  Ne6 27. Bxd6 Qxd6 28. Rxe6 (28...Qxe6 29. Bxc6+ Kd6 30. Qxe6+ Kxe6 31. Bxa8 {Winning endgame for White. [1]}) 1-0 
  </code></pre>
  <p>This seems like a rare event. At the time, Caruana was rated 2640 FIDE with Berg's rating at 2623.</p>
  <p>In games between 2600+ players, are there any classical games with 4 pieces (for the same player) pinned on the same rank?</p>
  <p>If not, are there other classical games between top players with 3 pieces pinned on the same rank?</p>
  <p>As depicted, there are no restrictions on the type of pin.</p>
  <p><strong>Example:</strong>  As proof that this is geometrically possible, I offer the following constructed example in the interests of clarity:</p>
  <pre><code>[Title &quot;Proof This Is Geometrically Possible&quot;]
  [FEN &quot;r7/p1qk2p1/1nbnrp1p/BB3Q2/P7/8/1PP2PPP/3RR2K w - - 8 27&quot;]
  </code></pre>
  <p><sub>Continuation and endgame evaluation provided by<br />
  [1] Weeramantry, S., Eusebi, E. 2020. <em>Best Lessons of a Chess Coach: Extended Edition</em>. Mongoose Press, Newton Highlands, MA, p. 237. </sub></p>
  
Tags: <master-games><pins>
Title: Are there any games with 4 pieces (for the same player) pinned on the same rank?
ThreadText: # Are there any games with 4 pieces (for the same player) pinned on the same rank?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2022-02-18)
  
  In [Caruana–Berg (Dresden, 2008)](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1522114), after **26...Ne6**, White has pins on all three of Black's pieces on the 6th rank and eventually gets a winning endgame.[1]
  
  ```
  [FEN ""]
  [Title "Caruana—Berg, Italy vs Sweden, Dresden Olympiad 2008 [C10]"]
  [StartPly "52"]
  
  1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Nxf6+
  Nxf6 7. Bd3 c5 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. Qe2 O-O 10. O-O b6 11. Bg5 Bb7
  12. Rad1 Qc7 13. Ne5 Rfd8 14. Kh1 Be7 15. Rde1 h6 16. Bh4 Nd5
  17. Bg3 Bd6 18. Qe4 Nf6 19. Qh4 Nd7 20. Nxf7 Kxf7 21. Rxe6 Nc5
  22. Rxd6 Rxd6 23. Qf4+ Ke7 24. Re1+ Kd7 25. Bb5+ Bc6 26. Qf5+
  Ne6 27. Bxd6 Qxd6 28. Rxe6 (28...Qxe6 29. Bxc6+ Kd6 30. Qxe6+ Kxe6 31. Bxa8 {Winning endgame for White. [1]}) 1-0 
  
  ```
  
  This seems like a rare event. At the time, Caruana was rated 2640 FIDE with Berg's rating at 2623.
  
  In games between 2600+ players, are there any classical games with 4 pieces (for the same player) pinned on the same rank?
  
  If not, are there other classical games between top players with 3 pieces pinned on the same rank?
  
  As depicted, there are no restrictions on the type of pin.
  
  **Example:** As proof that this is geometrically possible, I offer the following constructed example in the interests of clarity:
  
  ```
  [Title "Proof This Is Geometrically Possible"]
  [FEN "r7/p1qk2p1/1nbnrp1p/BB3Q2/P7/8/1PP2PPP/3RR2K w - - 8 27"]
  
  ```
  
  Continuation and endgame evaluation provided by  
  [1] Weeramantry, S., Eusebi, E. 2020. *Best Lessons of a Chess Coach: Extended Edition*. Mongoose Press, Newton Highlands, MA, p. 237.
  
  **Tags:** master-games, pins
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2022-02-18. Score: 5
  
  It is not geometrically possible to have four pieces all on the same rank
  pinned to the King. Nor is it possible for them to be all on the same
  file, or even the same diagonal. Indeed call that line L.
  Any piece pinned to the King must be on one of four lines
  through the King's square, two orthogonal and two diagonal.
  If the King is on line L then there can be at most two pinned pieces,
  one on either side of the King.
  Otherwise L is parallel to one of the four King lines,
  and each of the other three meets L in at most one point
  ("at most" rather than exactly one point because the geometric intersection
  might be between squares, or off the chessboard). So either way
  four is impossible.
  
  One might imagine four collinear pinned pieces on a line L that's
  neither orthogonal nor diagonal; this is not possible on an 8x8 board,
  but could happen on larger boards, e.g. with Kh1 one could have
  pieces pinned on b1, f3, h4, and n7 (with a 15th file to accommodate
  a pinning piece on o8). Of course if we imagine unorthodox boards
  then we could also imagine unorthodox pieces
  that would allow for four or even more collinear pinned pieces.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_2**: The question does not say they must be pinned to the king.  
  > **username_3**: True, and the poster should better clarify what "counts". (For example, if a piece with its mass blocks the access to a mating square, this sometimes is called "pin" either. Personally I wouldn't water it down: Pin: wA-bB-bC, if bB moves from the line wA-bC, wAxbC wins more material than wAxbB (i.e. it's no skewer), or the move was illegal in the first. I.e. wBa1-bQg7-bKh8 counts.  
  
  ---
  
  