En Prise

A piece or pawn attacked by an opponent and insufficiently defended, allowing the opponent to capture it safely.

Category
Tactics
Difficulty
Beginner
Also known as
hanging, loose, hanging piece

En prise is a French term meaning “in take.” It describes a piece or pawn attacked by an opponent and insufficiently defended, so the opponent can capture it safely.

When a unit is en prise, the capturer gains material without compensation. The term is most often used after an oversight: a knight lands on a square attacked by an enemy pawn, a rook sits on an open file facing an enemy queen, or a bishop is left hanging on a diagonal.

Club players most often leave pieces en prise through simple oversights—moving a previously defended piece, missing a new line of attack, or miscalculating exchanges. The result is usually an immediate loss of material that decides the game.

Strong players scan the board after every move to check whether any of their own units have become en prise. Before playing a move they verify that none of their pieces will be left hanging.

Frequently asked questions

What does en prise mean in chess?
En prise is a French term for a piece or pawn that is attacked by an opponent and not adequately defended, allowing safe capture.
How does a piece become en prise?
It usually happens through oversight, such as moving a defended piece, missing a new line of attack, or miscalculating an exchange.
How can players avoid leaving units en prise?
Strong players scan the board after every move to confirm none of their pieces are left hanging before committing to their next move.
Is en prise the same as a hanging piece?
Yes, the terms are interchangeable and also cover loose or unprotected units that the opponent can take for free.
What happens if you leave a piece en prise?
The opponent can capture it safely and gain material without compensation, often deciding the game.

See also

  • Cheap Trick — A cheap trick is an unsound tactical trap or swindle that succeeds only when the opponent overlooks an obvious threat, typically from a lost or inferior position.
  • Cheapo — A cheapo is a simple tactical trick or swindle played to catch an inattentive or time-pressed opponent.
  • Chess Blindness — Chess blindness is a player's temporary inability to see an obvious move, capture, or threat on the board, typically caused by fatigue, time pressure, or fixation on a single idea.
  • Deflection — Deflection is a tactic that forces an opposing piece to abandon a key square or defensive duty, exposing a weakness the attacker can immediately exploit.
  • Discovered Attack — A discovered attack occurs when one piece moves off a line and uncovers an attack from a second piece standing behind it on the same rank, file or diagonal.

Referenced by

  • Bonehead Move — A bonehead move is an obvious blunder such as hanging a piece or allowing an elementary tactic that a player of the same strength should spot instantly.
  • Fingerfehler — A fingerfehler is an unintentional blunder caused by selecting the wrong piece or square through a slip of the hand or mouse, even though the intended move was sound.
  • Royal Fork — A royal fork is a knight fork that attacks both the enemy king and queen at once, forcing the king to move and usually winning the queen for a knight.

Written by Chesswick.

Reviewed by James Duprey.

Published
Last updated

About the reviewer

James Duprey

James came to chess late, and he'll tell you that's part of the appeal. He picked up the game in his thirties, mostly out of boredom, and found something he wasn't expecting: a puzzle that never quite runs out of new…

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