Win the hanging bishop on e4
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The tactical motive
Hanging piece: your opponent left a piece undefended — take it.
Difficulty 1033 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 c1, rook d1 d6, bishop f4, knight e4 b5, pawn b2 f2 g2 a3 c4 h4 e5.
Black: king h8, rook b6 b8, bishop c6 g7, knight a6, pawn a4 c5 e6 g6 h6 f7.
13 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 29.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (26 against 25; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on c1, the black king on h8.
It is Black to move on move 29, with 27 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: b.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The Black king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
29... Bxe4 30. Rxb6 Rxb6
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to e4 keeps the pressure (+2.2).
- Well found: rook to b6 (+2.4).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Rxb6, then Rxb6 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 29… Bxe4 — bishop to e4 (capture)
- 30. Rxb6 — rook to b6 (capture)
- Rxb6 — rook to b6 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
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 006
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