Mate in 2: rook to h1 (h2)
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The tactical motive
Mate in 2: the first move creates an unstoppable threat, the second delivers mate.
Difficulty 1109 ShuffleRating — club-player level.
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 c1, rook a7, knight d2, pawn d3 b4 h6.
Black: king c3, rook h2, pawn b5 a6 c6.
6 white and 5 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 50.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 3 points of material (11 against 8; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on c1, the black king on c3.
It is Black to move on move 50, with 14 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e, f, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: d, h.
The Black king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
50... Rh1+ 51. Nf1 Rxf1#
Why it works
- Great move! rook to h1 keeps the pressure (#1).
- Well found: rook to f1 (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 2.
- If instead Nf1, then Rxf1# and it is mate.
Move by move
- 50… Rh1+ — rook to h1 with check
- 51. Nf1 — knight to f1
- Rxf1# — rook to f1 (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.
Win the pinned piece
The pinned piece cannot run — attack it again and win it.
A pinned piece cannot flee, which means you can win it outright by attacking it one more time. Count attackers against defenders: if you outnumber them, the piece is yours. The best extra attacker is a pawn, since it costs less than anything it might capture. Do not rush the capture — build up the pressure first, then harvest.
Endgame tactic
Tactics live in the endgame too — strike while material is scarce.
Tactics do not retire when the queens come off: forks, pins and double attacks live on in the endgame. With so little material left, every tactical loss is almost always decisive. The signs are the usual ones — undefended pieces, king and piece on one line, a pawn about to promote. Even in a "technical" ending, scan for a shot before every move, both yours and your opponent's.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 007
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