Mate in 1: rook to h2 (h5)
li-01rWZnaming tag (square·N)Opens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Mate in 1: find the move after which the enemy king has no escape.
Difficulty 912 ShuffleRating — for beginners taking their first steps in Chess960 tactics.
Black to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
A mate in one hides among forcing checks. Run through every check you can give: does it cover all the king's escape squares, is the checking piece safe or supported, and can nothing block or capture it? If yes, that is the mate.
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 h1, queen f1, rook a1 h2, bishop f7, pawn b2 f2 a3 d3 c4 e4.
Black: king h8, rook h5 a8, bishop f6, knight f3, pawn f4 e5 d6 h6 a7 b7 c7.
11 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 27.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 5 points of material (28 against 23; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on h1, the black king on h8.
It is Black to move on move 27, with 32 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 7. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): g — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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
27... Rxh2#
Why it works
- Great move! rook to h2 keeps the pressure (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 1.
Move by move
- 27… Rxh2# — rook to h2 (capture) and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Arabian mate
Rook and knight — the oldest mate: the rook strikes next to the cornered king.
The Arabian mate is the oldest named pattern: the king is driven into the corner and the rook mates right next to it, guarded by a knight. The geometry is exact: king on h8, rook striking from h7, knight on f6 both protecting the rook and covering g8. The knight is irreplaceable — only it can guard the rook at point-blank range and hold the escape square at once. Look for the pattern when your knight is anchored two steps from the enemy corner.
Mate in 1
Checkmate in a single move — find it.
Mate in one: the combination is over, only the final precise shot remains. The method is simple — list every check you have and test the three escapes against each: king moves, blocks, and capturing the checker. If none of them works, it is mate. The classic blunder is falling in love with the first check you see and missing the one escape hatch.
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.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 004
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