Chess Puzzle #2NWzz — Beginner, White to move, middlegame

Position

White: king g1; queen c2; rooks c1/d1; bishop g2; knights f6/g5; pawns a2/b2/e2/f2/g3/h2. Black: king g8; queen c7; rooks a8/f8; bishops e7/h5; pawns a7/b7/c6/e5/f7/g7/h7. White is ahead by 2 points of material. White to move.

Solution (1 move)

1. Opponent setup: Bxf6 — bishop e7→f6, captures knight. Now White to move.
2. Best move: Qxh7# — queen c2→h7, captures pawn, delivers checkmate.

Why this works

After Black's setup move 15...Bxf6, White's queen on c2 has a clear diagonal to h7. The move 1.Qxh7# is checkmate because the Black king on g8 has no escape squares: h8 is controlled by the queen on h7, f8 is blocked by Black's own rook, and h7 itself is occupied by the attacking queen. The bishop on f6 (which just captured White's knight) cannot interpose or defend h7. Black's remaining pieces — the rook on f8, queen on c7, and bishop on h5 — are all too far away to help. The king is mated on its starting square.

What to practice

When your opponent sacrifices or captures on your side of the board, check whether you've opened a direct line to their king. Here, Black's capture on f6 removed the defender of the h7 square and also unblocked White's queen's diagonal. The pattern: look for queen moves along the long diagonal (a1-h8 and its parallels) toward an enemy king that's trapped by its own pawns and pieces.

Tactical themes

kingside attack, mate, mate in 1, middlegame, one move. The combination ends with Qxh7# delivering checkmate.

Position data

FEN: r4rk1/ppq1bppp/2p2N2/4p1Nb/8/6P1/PPQ1PPBP/2RR2K1 b - - 0 16

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