Chess Puzzle #At9E2 — Advanced, White to move, opening

Rating 1794 · Advanced · advantage, middlegame, short, trapped piece.

Position

White: king g1; queen c2; rooks a1/e3; bishop c1; knights b1/h4; pawns a2/b2/c3/d4/f2/g3/h2. Black: king f7; queen f6; rooks a8/h8; bishops c8/d6; knights c6/e4; pawns a7/b7/c4/d5/e6/g7/h6. Black is ahead by 3 points of material. White to move.

Solution (2 moves)

  1. Opponent setup: Ke7 — king f7→e7. Now White to move.
  2. Best move: Rf3 — rook e3→f3. Opponent replies Qxf3 (queen f6→f3, captures rook).
  3. Best move: Nxf3 — knight h4→f3, captures queen.

Tactical themes

advantage, middlegame, short, trapped piece. The key move is Rf3.

Position data

FEN: r1b4r/pp3kp1/2nbpq1p/3p4/2pPn2N/2P1R1P1/PPQ2P1P/RNB3K1 b - - 2 15

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Puzzle data from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0). Analysis powered by Stockfish 18 in your browser.