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Comment by 333c

8 hours ago

I was replying to a comment quoting an official rule saying "no piece can be moved if that exposes or leaves its own king in check."

I was pointing out that that specific rule (read to mean that moving a piece pinned against a king is not allow) is not strictly necessary. Putting oneself in check is not allowed regardless of whether it's because you moved a piece that was pinned against your king or moved your king directly into the line of sight of an opponent's piece. These are the different "means."

As a sibling comment points out, "The only action you can ever take in chess is moving," so it's not particularly meaningful to say that the only way to put yourself in check is by moving.

And likewise, it's not particularly meaningful to say "That's a consequence of not being allowed to put yourself in check (by any means)."

The rule, "3.9.2: no piece can be moved if that exposes or leaves its own king in check." covers both the case of moving a pinned piece as well as moving the king into check, i.e. it covers all "means" of putting yourself into check.