Win the hanging queen on b2
li-03LpJOpens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Hanging piece: your opponent left a piece undefended — take it.
Difficulty 1909 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
White to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
A hanging piece is one that is attacked and not defended, or defended too few times. Count attackers against defenders on each enemy unit; where attackers win, take it — often with an in-between move or a check to gain the extra tempo.
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 c2, rook a1 d1, bishop g3, knight b1, pawn a2 g2 h2 c3 f3 e4.
Black: king g8, queen d7, rook b2 e8, bishop d6, knight f6, pawn c6 h6 a7 c7 f7 g7.
12 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 17.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 31 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 g8.
It is White to move on move 17, with 34 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, d — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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
17. Qxb2 Bc5+ 18. Rd4
Why it works
- Best move. queen to b2 is exactly what the engine plays (+3.6).
- Well found: rook to d4 (+4.2).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Bc5+, then Rd4 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 17. Qxb2 — queen to b2 (capture)
- Bc5+ — bishop to c5 with check
- 18. Rd4 — rook to d4
Types in this puzzle
Winning blow
Find the strike that wins material by force.
A winning blow is a forced material gain that does not fit a single textbook motif. The general tactical recipe applies: spot loose pieces, an awkwardly placed king, overloaded lines. Go through the forcing moves in order of violence — checks, captures, threats — because most combinations start with one of them. Do not judge by feel: calculate the concrete line until the outcome is beyond doubt.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 014
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