Discovered attack: pawn to g5
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The tactical motive
Discovered attack: one piece steps aside, unleashing another's attack.
Difficulty 1237 ShuffleRating — club-player level.
White to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
A discovered attack fires when one piece steps aside and unmasks the piece behind it. Look for your own units that block a rook, bishop or queen: moving the front piece — ideally with a threat of its own — springs two attacks in one move.
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 h4, rook f3, knight e5, pawn h2 a3 g3 f4.
Black: king f5, queen f1, pawn d5 g5 c6 h6.
7 white and 6 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 45.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (12 against 13; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on h4, the black king on f5.
It is White to move on move 45, with 2 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle. White are in check right now, so every reply must answer the check.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, d.
The White king has 1 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
45. fxg5+ Qxf3 46. Nxf3
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to g5 keeps the pressure (+5.4).
- Well found: knight to f3 (+5.8).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qxf3, then Nxf3 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 45. fxg5+ — pawn to g5 (capture) with check
- Qxf3 — queen to f3 (capture)
- 46. Nxf3 — knight to f3 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Discovered check
The moving piece opens a check — and is free to grab anything meanwhile.
With a discovered check the moving piece unmasks a check from the piece standing behind it. While the king deals with the check, the piece that moved grabs whatever it likes, free of charge. Look for your long-range piece on a line with the enemy king, with exactly one of your own pieces in between. The rule: among all the ways to step aside, pick the one that captures or attacks the most expensive loot.
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 008
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