Rescue the king to b3
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The tactical motive
Save the piece: one of your pieces is attacked — find the best way to rescue it.
Difficulty 1436 ShuffleRating — club-player level.
Black to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
Here the task is defensive: one of your pieces is under attack and must be rescued without losing more. Look for a move that saves it with tempo — a counter-check, an equal counter-attack or an interposition — rather than a passive retreat.
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 d2, rook a5.
Black: king a2, pawn b2 c6 g7.
2 white and 4 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 43.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 2 points of material (5 against 3; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d2, the black king on a2.
It is Black to move on move 43, 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 0 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, d, e, f, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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
43... Kb3 44. Ra7 b1=Q 45. Rb7+ Ka2
Why it works
- Great move! king to b3 keeps the pressure (+4.7).
- Well found: pawn to b1 (+6.2).
- Strong! king to a2 is the sharp choice (+6.3).
- You win decisive material (+6.3).
- If instead Ra7, then b1=Q and you win the pawn.
Move by move
- 43… Kb3 — king to b3
- 44. Ra7 — rook to a7
- b1=Q — pawn to b1
- 45. Rb7+ — rook to b7 with check
- Ka2 — king to a2
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.
Passed pawn
Nothing can stop the passer — escort it to the last rank.
A passed pawn has no enemy pawns in front of it or on the neighboring files: only pieces can stop it. Check who can blockade the pawn or catch it with the king — if nobody can, the pawn is worth a whole piece. Push the passer with your pieces supporting it, and put your rook behind it. The beginner's mistake is shoving the pawn forward unprotected, straight into a capture.
Mate defense
Mate is threatened — parry it and stay on top.
Mate defense: your opponent is one move from mating you — but it is your turn, and that changes everything. Find the defense that kills the mating threat while keeping your advantage: often a check or a counter-threat that leaves no time for the mate. First name the exact square where the mate would land — otherwise you are defending blind. The mistake is playing a "defensive" move that does not actually remove the threat.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 011
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