Mate in 2: rook to f1 (f5)
li-00ghHnaming tag (square·N)The tactical motive
Mate in 2: the first move creates an unstoppable threat, the second delivers mate.
Difficulty 800 ShuffleRating — for beginners taking their first steps in Chess960 tactics.
Black to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
Mate in two usually opens with a forcing move — a check, a capture or an unstoppable threat — that strips the king of squares or defenders, so the follow-up mate becomes unavoidable. Look for the first move that leaves the opponent only losing replies.
General method: before you move, list the forcing candidates — every check, every capture, every direct threat — and calculate those first. The solution to a tactic is almost always among them.
Position on the board
White: king g1, queen b6, rook e1 e3, pawn g2 h2 c3 a5 d5.
Black: king h8, queen f6, rook f5 f8, pawn e6 h6 g7.
9 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 39.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 2 points of material (24 against 22; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g1, the black king on h8.
It is Black to move on move 39, with 31 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: a, c, d.
The Black king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
39... Rf1+ 40. Rxf1 Qxf1#
Why it works
- Great move! rook to f1 keeps the pressure (#1).
- Well found: queen to f1 (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 2.
- If instead Rxf1, then Qxf1# and it is mate.
Move by move
- 39… Rf1+ — rook to f1 with check
- 40. Rxf1 — rook to f1 (capture)
- Qxf1# — queen to f1 (capture) and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Supported queen mate
The queen delivers mate face to face, protected by a friend.
The supported queen mate is the most common pattern of all: the queen lands next to the king and mates because a friendly piece or pawn protects her. The king is helpless — capturing is impossible, and the queen covers every neighboring square herself. Hunt for a protected square beside the enemy king: a knight, bishop or pawn eyeing it turns her invasion into mate. Verify one thing — that the square really is defended, or the king eats her.
Mate in 2
A forced checkmate in two moves.
Mate in two: your move, any reply, then the mating blow. Start with the most forcing first moves — checks and sacrifices that shrink the opponent's options to almost nothing. Against every single reply you must have a mate ready, so check them all without exception. The common failure is analyzing the pretty defense and forgetting the boring one.
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 003
Similar puzzles
Free, no ads · Android 8.0+ · coming soon to Google Play