Win the hanging king on d8
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The tactical motive
Hanging piece: your opponent left a piece undefended — take it.
Difficulty 1458 ShuffleRating — club-player level.
Black 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 g5, bishop d8, pawn g3 d4 h4 e5 b6.
Black: king d7, bishop a6, pawn d5 f5 h5 g6 f7.
7 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 58.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 8 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on g5, the black king on d7.
It is Black to move on move 58, with 14 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): a, c — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: b, e.
The Black king has 5 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
58... Kxd8 59. Kf6 Ke8 60. e6 fxe6
Why it works
- Great move! king to d8 keeps the pressure (+3.8).
- Well found: king to e8 (+4.6).
- Strong! pawn to e6 is the sharp choice (+5.1).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Kf6, then Ke8 and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 58… Kxd8 — king to d8 (capture)
- 59. Kf6 — king to f6
- Ke8 — king to e8
- 60. e6 — pawn to e6
- fxe6 — pawn to e6 (capture)
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.
Minor-piece endgame
Bishops and knights duel — geometry decides.
A minor-piece endgame leaves only bishops and knights with pawns, and geometry decides. The bishop loves an open board and play on both wings; the knight loves fixed pawns and outpost squares. Check which color squares the pawns stand on and where the knight can actually reach in time. Practical tip: against a knight, spread the play across both flanks — short legs cannot cover everything.
King march
In the endgame the king is a fighting piece — march it in.
The king march: in the endgame the king is a fighting piece, and often it is his journey forward that wins. It is time to march when the queens are off and checks hold no danger — the king attacks pawns, escorts the passer, takes squares away. The telltale sign of the theme is several king moves in a row. Plan the full route in advance using the rule of the square, and do not let the enemy king grab the opposition.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 011
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