Deflection: queen to e1
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The tactical motive
Deflection: force the defender to abandon its post.
Difficulty 1307 ShuffleRating — club-player level.
Black to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
Deflection drags a defender away from its duty. Identify the enemy piece that guards a key square or mate, then force it to move — with a check, a capture or a threat it must answer — and strike where it no longer defends.
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 e8, bishop e3, knight g4, pawn g2 h3 d4.
Black: king h8, queen c3, bishop b4, knight f8, pawn h6 g7.
7 white and 6 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 31.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (18 against 17; 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 31, with 26 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 2. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, b, c, e, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: 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
31... Qe1+ 32. Kh2 Bd6+ 33. Ne5 Qxe3
Why it works
- Great move! queen to e1 keeps the pressure (+4.5).
- Well found: bishop to d6 (+4.7).
- Strong! queen to e3 is the sharp choice (+4.6).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Kh2, then Bd6+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 31… Qe1+ — queen to e1 with check
- 32. Kh2 — king to h2
- Bd6+ — bishop to d6 with check
- 33. Ne5 — knight to e5
- Qxe3 — queen to e3 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Relative pin
A piece shields a more valuable one behind it — moving it loses material.
In a relative pin the piece shields not its king but something valuable behind it, usually the queen. Moving is legal but costly, because the piece behind falls. Look for three units on one line: your long-range piece, a cheaper enemy piece, and an expensive one hiding behind. Beware the classic trap — a relatively pinned piece can still move with check or a bigger threat, so verify before you cash in.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 009
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