Discovered attack: rook to g2
li-05uJgOpens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Discovered attack: one piece steps aside, unleashing another's attack.
Difficulty 1863 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
Black 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 h2, queen h5, rook a1 f1, bishop f6, pawn a2 b2 c3 c4 h6.
Black: king g8, queen e8, rook g6 a8, pawn d3 d4 c5 a6 b7.
10 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 33.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 3 points of material (27 against 24; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on h2, the black king on g8.
It is Black to move on move 33, with 36 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e, f, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: h.
The Black king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
33... Rg2+ 34. Kxg2 Qxh5 35. h7+ Qxh7
Why it works
- Great move! rook to g2 keeps the pressure (+4.0).
- Well found: queen to h5 (+3.8).
- Strong! queen to h7 is the sharp choice (+4.1).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kxg2, then Qxh5 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 33… Rg2+ — rook to g2 with check
- 34. Kxg2 — king to g2 (capture)
- Qxh5 — queen to h5 (capture)
- 35. h7+ — pawn to h7 with check
- Qxh7 — queen to h7 (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 014
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