Attack defender of skewer (3 moves)

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If a square where a skewer is threatened is protected by a defender, attacking that defender can force it away, and allow the skewer.

Explanation

Protecting a square is insufficient, if the protector can be forced away with an attack, leaving the square unprotected.

Examples

Qh8+ would skewer Black's king and rook, however the king is defending h8.
White can win by attacking the defender with Rg3+!
Black has to play Kf8, leaving h8 unprotected.
White can now win a rook with the skewer Qh8+.

Sometimes the attackeding piece is the same which gives the skewer:

The unprotected rook on a1 is a clue for a possible skewer.
Black can win with Qh2+, attacking the king which defends h1.
The king has to escape to f1, leaving h1 unprotected.
From h2 the queen has access to h1, and Black now wins the rook with the skewer Qh1+.

Sometimes the attacked piece itself is pushed into the skewer by the attack:

This is similar to the previous example. This time the bishop on b2 is the unprotected piece.
Black can win with Qh1+, forcing the king onto the second rank, and away from protecting h2.
After Kf2, Black can win with the skewer Qh2+.

Visualization

When you are threatening a skewer, but the skewer square is protected, always think about ways to remove the defence.