What is Flank in chess?
The queenside (a through d files) or kingside (e through h files) wings of the board.
Flank attacks aim to open lines on one side of the board while the opponent's king is castled there. Pawn majorities on a flank are often used to create passed pawns in endgames.
Spot flank in your own games
Free. Chess2EZ finds the patterns you keep missing and explains each in plain English.
Analyze my games →More chess terms
- Square colourEach bishop is permanently locked to either light squares or dark squares for the whole game.
- BlunderA move that throws away material or the game, usually for nothing.
- ForkOne piece attacking two or more enemy pieces at the same time.
- PinA piece can't move because doing so would expose a more valuable piece behind it.
- SkewerLike a pin in reverse: a valuable piece is attacked and must move, exposing a piece behind it.
- Discovered attackMoving one piece unveils an attack from another piece behind it.