Mate in 1: rook to g2
li-02lt5Opens 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 816 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 g3, queen a6, rook c5, knight f3.
Black: king h5, rook b2, bishop h3, knight f4, pawn e3 g5 h6.
4 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 57.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 3 points of material (17 against 14; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g3, the black king on h5.
It is Black to move on move 57, with 28 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 0 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, b, c, d, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
The Black king has 0 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
57... Rg2#
Why it works
- Great move! rook to g2 keeps the pressure (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 1.
Move by move
- 57… Rg2# — rook to g2 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Hook mate
Rook, knight and pawn form a hook the king cannot escape.
The hook mate is a three-piece construction: the rook mates, the knight guards the rook, and a pawn guards the knight. The rook strikes the king at close range along a line, the knight stands diagonally nearby stealing the escape squares, and the pawn anchors the chain. The pattern usually appears near the edge after a rook invasion. Build it link by link — first plant the knight under pawn protection, then crash in with the rook.
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.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 003
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads