Chess Puzzle #XSkXo — Expert, White to move, middlegame

Position

White: king b1; queen b5; rooks g1/h2; bishop e2; pawns a2/b2/c3/e3/g3. Black: king g7; queen d6; rooks d8/f8; bishop a8; knight f2; pawns a7/b6/e4/g6/h7. Black is ahead by 3 points of material. White to move.

Solution (3 moves)

1. Opponent setup: Qd2 — queen d6→d2. Now White to move.
2. Best move: Qe5+ — queen b5→e5, gives check. Opponent replies Kg8 (king g7→g8).
3. Best move: Qe6+ — queen e5→e6, gives check. Opponent replies Rf7 (rook f8→f7).
4. Best move: Rxh7 — rook h2→h7, captures pawn.

Why this works

White's queen check on e5 forces the king to g8 (h8 and h7 are controlled by the rook on h2, f8 is occupied). The follow-up 2.Qe6+ drives the rook to f7 — Black's only legal block, since Kg7 allows Qg8#. This rook move is the critical moment: it abandons f8 and places itself on f7, where it becomes pinned to the king along the f-file. White then plays 3.Rxh7, and Black cannot recapture because the rook on f7 is pinned; any rook move exposes the king to Qg8#. The e6 queen controls g8, and the rook on h7 threatens immediate mate on h8 or a perpetual check if the king moves. White nets the h7 pawn with a decisive attack because Black's only defender (the rook on f7) is absolute-pinned and cannot fulfill its defensive duties.

What to practice

When the opponent's rook is forced to interpose on a file where the king retreats, check whether it becomes pinned to that king. A rook on f7 defending h7 is useless if moving it allows back-rank mate. The pattern is: force a blocking move that creates an absolute pin, then capture the piece the pin was protecting. This trains you to recognize when a defensive move actually worsens the position because it removes the defender from play entirely.

Tactical themes

advantage, long, middlegame, pin. The key move is Qe5+.

Position data

FEN: b2r1r2/p5kp/1p1q2p1/1Q6/4p3/2P1P1P1/PP2Bn1R/1K4R1 b - - 0 27

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