Mate in 2: double attack on e6 (c4)
li-03Rmnnaming tag (square·N)Opens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Double attack: one move creates two threats at once.
Mate in 2: the first move creates an unstoppable threat, the second delivers mate.
Difficulty 1935 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
White to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
A double attack threatens two things at once so the opponent cannot parry both. Look for a single move — often a queen or knight — that creates two separate threats, such as a check plus an attack on a loose piece.
Mate in two usually opens with a forcing move — a check, a capture or an unstoppable threat — that strips the king of squares or defenders, so the follow-up mate becomes unavoidable. Look for the first move that leaves the opponent only losing replies.
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, rook c1 f1, bishop c4 f4, knight b3, pawn a2 b2 f2 f3 h3.
Black: king c8, queen b6, rook d2 h8, bishop b5 e7, knight f6, pawn h5 e6 a7 b7 f7 g7.
11 white and 13 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 18.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 10 points of material (24 against 34; 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 c8.
It is White to move on move 18, with 34 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: e, g.
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
18. Bxe6+ Kd8 19. Rc8#
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to e6 keeps the pressure (#1).
- Well found: rook to c8 (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 2.
- If instead Kd8, then Rc8# and it is mate.
Move by move
- 18. Bxe6+ — bishop to e6 (capture) with check
- Kd8 — king to d8
- 19. Rc8# — rook to c8 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Mate in 2
A forced checkmate in two moves.
Mate in two: your move, any reply, then the mating blow. Start with the most forcing first moves — checks and sacrifices that shrink the opponent's options to almost nothing. Against every single reply you must have a mate ready, so check them all without exception. The common failure is analyzing the pretty defense and forgetting the boring one.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
Discovered attack
A piece steps aside and opens a second attack from the piece behind it.
A discovered attack works like a curtain: one piece steps off the line and unveils the long-range piece behind it. The beauty is that the moving piece can create a second threat of its own — two attacks in one move. Look for your stacked pairs: a bishop or rook behind a knight or pawn, aimed through them at something valuable. Send the front piece to the most aggressive square — a discovery without a second threat wastes half its power.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 014
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads