ChessA windmill is a rook and a bishop taking turns giving check, so the enemy king can only shuffle between two squares while your rook grabs a piece on every turn. It's really a chain of discovered checks. The rook steps away and the bishop behind it gives check. The rook comes back and gives check itself. It keeps spinning like a windmill, and your opponent can only watch his pieces disappear. When you play chess for free and land one, you'll never forget it.
What it looks like
Look at how the machine turns:
- Rook on g7, king on g8: the rook gives check directly. g7 is protected by the bishop on f6, so the king can't take the rook, and f8 is blocked by its own knight. The only move is to h8.
- Rook moves away, king on h8: the rook takes any piece along the 7th rank, and as soon as it leaves g7, the bishop gives check. The king has to go back to g8.
- The rook returns to g7 with check, and we're back at step 1.
Each time around, the white rook eats one piece on the 7th rank, and Black never gets a single move to strike back.
How the windmill turns
One piece per spin
Notice that the pieces on the 7th rank get eaten starting from the ones nearest g7, because the rook has to travel there with nothing in the way. Only after the f7 pawn is gone can the rook reach c7.
Finishing in another direction
A windmill doesn't only spin on the 7th rank. If the rook moves down the g-file, the bishop still gives check, and the rook can go after a bigger piece further away. Black started with an extra queen. After one full spin, Black has almost nothing left.
A real example: Torre vs Lasker, 1925
The most famous windmill came in Moscow in 1925, when the Mexican player Carlos Torre played former world champion Emanuel Lasker. White first gave his queen away, and got this position in return:
White won back the queen he'd given away in one sweep with the windmill, and picked up two pawns and a bishop on top. This game made the windmill famous all over the world.
How to defend
- Watch out for bishops on long diagonals. If an enemy bishop is aimed at a square next to your king, with one pawn of yours in between, that's a warning sign.
- Don't let an enemy rook settle on your 7th rank easily. A rook on the 7th is often where a windmill starts.
- Give your king an extra square that isn't covered. A windmill only works if the king can only go back and forth between two squares. One more escape square, and the machine jams.
- Look for a chance to take that bishop. The windmill depends on the bishop's checks. Without the bishop, it's just an ordinary rook.
Practice puzzles
Show answer
1. Rxc7+ Take the queen on c7! As soon as the rook leaves g7, the bishop gives check, the king has to go back to g8, and the queen is lost for nothing. The black queen on c7 is staring at the rook on g7. If you don't take her now, she'll take your rook.
Show answer
1. Rxg7+ Kh8 2. Rxf7+ Kg8 3. Rxc7 The rook takes on g7 with check, and the king has to go to h8. The rook takes on f7, the bishop gives check, and the king returns to g8. Now the black queen on c7 is on the same rank as the white rook. If the rook went back to g7 with check, the queen would take it. So just take the queen.
Show answer
1. Rg5+ Kh7 2. Rxb5 The rook drops back to g5, and the bishop gives check. The rook is now on the same rank as the queen on b5. The black king has to go to h7, and the white rook takes the queen.
FAQ
What's the difference between a windmill and a discovered attack?
A windmill is a chain of discovered attacks. A discovered attack happens once: move one piece, and the piece behind attacks. A windmill alternates discovered checks with direct checks again and again, so your opponent never gets a breath.
Does a windmill have to use a rook and a bishop?
Rook and bishop is the most common, because the rook grabs pieces along the rank and the bishop checks from the diagonal, a very clean split of jobs. Two rooks, or a queen and bishop, can do it too. It's just rarer.
Why can't the enemy king escape?
Because in a windmill position, the king has only two squares to go to, and they get checked in turn. If the king had one more escape square, or a piece that could block the check, the windmill would stop.
Try it yourself
Windmills are rare, but once you've seen one you'll remember its shape: a rook on the 7th rank, a bishop on the long diagonal, and a king stuck behind its own pawns. Apart from the fork, it's the tactic that wins the most material in one go. For more, go back to chess tactics. To try one yourself, play a game of chess online against the computer.