Chess Puzzle #0yiTI — Beginner, Black to move, middlegame

Position

White: king g1; queen d3; rooks c1/f1; pawns a4/b5/d4/f2/g3/h2. Black: king b8; queen d5; rooks d8/g6; knight e3; pawns a7/b7/d6/e7/g7/h4. Black is ahead by 3 points of material. Black to move.

Solution (1 move)

1. Opponent setup: Qxg6 — queen d3→g6, captures rook. Now Black to move.
2. Best move: Qg2# — queen d5→g2, delivers checkmate.

Why this works

After White's queen captures on g6, Black delivers checkmate with 1...Qg2#. The white king on g1 is trapped: the f1 rook blocks the f-file and cannot interpose on g2, the h2 pawn blocks h1, and g2 itself is undefended. White's queen on g6 is too far away to reach g2 in one move, and no other White piece controls that square. The black queen on g2 is protected by the knight on e3, which covers g2 via the e3-g2 diagonal (knights move in an L-shape: one square to g4, then one square diagonally back lands on... actually, the knight on e3 controls d1, f1, g2, g4, f5, d5, c4, c2 — yes, g2 is a standard knight move from e3). The king has no escape square because f2 is occupied by White's own pawn.

What to practice

Recognize when a piece near the enemy king (here, the knight on e3) suddenly becomes a tactical asset by defending a critical mating square. White's last move, Qxg6, removed Black's rook but created a weakness by moving the queen away from defensive duties on the kingside. Train yourself to spot undefended escape squares around the opponent's king and check whether your pieces can converge there in one move.

Tactical themes

endgame, mate, mate in 1, one move. The combination ends with Qg2# delivering checkmate.

Position data

FEN: 1k1r4/pp2p1p1/3p2r1/1P1q4/P2P3p/3Qn1P1/5P1P/2R2RK1 w - - 0 24

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