Win the hanging king on e5
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The tactical motive
Hanging piece: your opponent left a piece undefended — take it.
Difficulty 1796 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
White 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 f6, knight e3, pawn c5 g7.
Black: king g8, knight e5, pawn a3 b7.
4 white and 4 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 57.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 5 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on f6, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 57, with 14 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 2 pawns, Black 2. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d, e, f, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, b.
The White king has 5 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
57. Kxe5 a2 58. Nc2 a1=Q+ 59. Nxa1
Why it works
- Great move! king to e5 keeps the pressure (+6.3).
- Well found: knight to c2 (+7.7).
- Strong! knight to a1 is the sharp choice (#24).
- You win a piece — the knight.
- If instead a2, then Nc2 and you win the knight.
Move by move
- 57. Kxe5 — king to e5 (capture)
- a2 — pawn to a2
- 58. Nc2 — knight to c2
- a1=Q+ — pawn to a1 with check
- 59. Nxa1 — knight to a1 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Winning blow
Find the strike that wins material by force.
A winning blow is a forced material gain that does not fit a single textbook motif. The general tactical recipe applies: spot loose pieces, an awkwardly placed king, overloaded lines. Go through the forcing moves in order of violence — checks, captures, threats — because most combinations start with one of them. Do not judge by feel: calculate the concrete line until the outcome is beyond doubt.
Minor-piece endgame
Bishops and knights duel — geometry decides.
A minor-piece endgame leaves only bishops and knights with pawns, and geometry decides. The bishop loves an open board and play on both wings; the knight loves fixed pawns and outpost squares. Check which color squares the pawns stand on and where the knight can actually reach in time. Practical tip: against a knight, spread the play across both flanks — short legs cannot cover everything.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 013
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