Win the hanging king on h7
li-04YaROpens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Hanging piece: your opponent left a piece undefended — take it.
Trapped piece: an enemy piece has no safe squares — catch it.
Difficulty 1213 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.
A trapped piece has no safe square. Spot an enemy piece that has wandered offside or been hemmed in, then play the move that takes away its last escape and wins it — often a quiet pawn push or a covering minor piece.
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, queen g3, rook e1 e2, bishop e5 h7, pawn a2 b2 f2 h2 c3 d4.
Black: king g8, queen g5, rook f3 f8, bishop h3, pawn g2 g4 d5 a6 c6.
12 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 32.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 4 points of material (31 against 27; 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 g8.
It is Black to move on move 32, with 2 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle. Black are in check right now, so every reply must answer the check.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: b, f, h.
White 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
32... Kxh7 33. Bd6 Rxg3
Why it works
- Great move! king to h7 keeps the pressure (+2.9).
- A brilliant blow: rook to g3, and you are winning (+3.0).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Bd6, then Rxg3 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 32… Kxh7 — king to h7 (capture)
- 33. Bd6 — bishop to d6
- Rxg3 — rook to g3 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Queen trap
The strongest piece ventures too far — and cannot come back.
A queen trap catches the strongest piece after it ventures too far and finds no way home. The usual story is a queen grabbing a distant pawn — the classic poisoned pawn. The warning signs: the queen has few retreat squares, and enemy minor pieces cut them off one by one, gaining tempo with every move. Before your queen snacks on a pawn in enemy territory, count her escape routes — fewer than two means stay home.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 008
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