Deflection: queen to d6
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The tactical motive
Deflection: force the defender to abandon its post.
Difficulty 1377 ShuffleRating — club-player level.
White 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 d2, rook c1, bishop e2, pawn a2 g2 h2 b4 e4.
Black: king b8, queen f6, rook c8, bishop e6, pawn f3 e5 h5 a7 b7.
9 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 28.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 22 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on g1, the black king on b8.
It is White to move on move 28, with 45 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: f.
The White king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
28. Qd6+ Ka8 29. Rxc8+ Bxc8 30. Qxf6
Why it works
- Great move! queen to d6 keeps the pressure (+7.1).
- Well found: rook to c8 (+7.4).
- Strong! queen to f6 is the sharp choice (+7.4).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Ka8, then Rxc8+ and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 28. Qd6+ — queen to d6 with check
- Ka8 — king to a8
- 29. Rxc8+ — rook to c8 (capture) with check
- Bxc8 — bishop to c8 (capture)
- 30. Qxf6 — queen to f6 (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 010
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