Skewer: queen to h5
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The tactical motive
Skewer: a valuable piece is forced to move, exposing the one behind it.
Difficulty 1185 ShuffleRating — club-player level.
Black to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
A skewer is a pin reversed — the valuable piece stands in front and, when it moves, the piece behind falls. Line your rook, bishop or queen up against the king or queen and win whatever is hiding behind it.
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 f5, queen a5, pawn g3 a4 f4.
Black: king g8, queen d1, pawn g7.
5 white and 3 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 44.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 2 points of material (12 against 10; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on f5, the black king on g8.
It is Black to move on move 44, with 27 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 1. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, c, d, e, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: a, f.
The Black king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
44... Qh5+ 45. Ke4 Qxa5
Why it works
- Great move! queen to h5 keeps the pressure (+9.0).
- Well found: queen to a5 (+10.1).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Ke4, then Qxa5 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 44… Qh5+ — queen to h5 with check
- 45. Ke4 — king to e4
- Qxa5 — queen to a5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Skewer
A line attack forces the valuable piece to move, exposing the one behind it.
A skewer is a pin turned inside out: the valuable piece stands in front and something cheaper hides behind it. The big piece must step aside, and you collect the one that was sheltering in its shadow. Scan for the enemy king or queen sharing a file, rank or diagonal with another enemy piece. The deadliest version comes with check — the king moves, the rook behind it dies.
Queen endgame
Queens on an open board — precision above all.
Queen endgames are treacherous: the queen reaches everywhere, and one slip turns a win into perpetual check. The signs are few pawns, exposed kings, and checks hanging in the air. Tuck your king away early, and use your own checks to bring the queen closer or push your passer with tempo. The typical mistake is grabbing pawns while leaving your king exposed to endless checks.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 007
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