Chess Puzzle #479lh — Beginner, White to move, middlegame

Position

White: king g1; queen c1; rook e1; bishops d3/g3; pawns a2/b3/d5/e4/f3/g2/h2. Black: king d7; queen e7; rooks d8/g8; knight d4; pawns a5/b4/d6/e5/f6/f7/h7. Black is ahead by 2 points of material. White to move.

Solution (2 moves)

1. Opponent setup: Rg6 — rook g8→g6. Now White to move.
2. Best move: Bb5+ — bishop d3→b5, gives check. Opponent replies Nxb5 (knight d4→b5, captures bishop).
3. Best move: Qc6# — queen c1→c6, delivers checkmate.

Why this works

After 1.Bb5+, White forces the knight on d4 to capture (the only way to stop the check). The critical point is that 1...Nxb5 removes the knight from d4, leaving Black's king fatally exposed on d7. White's queen then delivers mate on c6 because the king has no escape: c8 is controlled by the queen itself, d8 is blocked by Black's own rook, e8 and e6 are controlled by the queen on c6, and the knight on b5 — which just captured the bishop — cannot reach c6 or defend any flight square. Black's queen on e7 is too far away to interpose or defend the mating square.

What to practice

When a check forces your opponent to block or capture with a piece that was performing defensive duties, calculate whether the removal creates an undefended mating square. Here the knight on d4 was Black's last defender of the c6 square; by removing it with a sacrifice, White opens the mating net in one tempo. Train yourself to spot king positions where a single defender (often centralized) guards multiple escape squares—a check that forces its capture often leads directly to mate.

Tactical themes

mate, mate in 2, middlegame, sacrifice, short. The combination ends with Qc6# delivering checkmate.

Position data

FEN: 3r2r1/3kqp1p/3p1p2/p2Pp3/1p1nP3/1P1B1PB1/P5PP/2Q1R1K1 b - - 0 24

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