Mate in 2: pawn to h4 (h3)
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The tactical motive
Mate in 2: the first move creates an unstoppable threat, the second delivers mate.
Difficulty 1498 ShuffleRating — club-player level.
White 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 f2, rook h6 h7, pawn a2 b3 f3 h3 f5.
Black: king g5, rook c4 b8, knight f4, pawn e5 f7.
8 white and 6 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 44.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 15 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on f2, the black king on g5.
It is White to move on move 44, with 23 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 2. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: e.
The White king has 5 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
44. h4+ Kxf5 45. Rxf7#
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to h4 keeps the pressure (#1).
- Well found: rook to f7 (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 2.
- If instead Kxf5, then Rxf7# and it is mate.
Move by move
- 44. h4+ — pawn to h4 with check
- Kxf5 — king to f5 (capture)
- 45. Rxf7# — rook to f7 (capture) and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
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.
Passed pawn
Nothing can stop the passer — escort it to the last rank.
A passed pawn has no enemy pawns in front of it or on the neighboring files: only pieces can stop it. Check who can blockade the pawn or catch it with the king — if nobody can, the pawn is worth a whole piece. Push the passer with your pieces supporting it, and put your rook behind it. The beginner's mistake is shoving the pawn forward unprotected, straight into a capture.
Breakthrough
A pawn sacrifice tears the chain open and lets a passer through.
A breakthrough is a pawn sacrifice that rips the opponent's chain open and creates an unstoppable passer. Look for it where the pawns are locked against each other: often two pawns are given up so the third one slips through. Check the square rule — can the enemy king catch the new passer? If not, sacrifice with confidence; the classic error is breaking through while his king stands right there eating everything.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 011
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