Mate in 2: queen to c8 (b7)
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The tactical motive
Mate in 2: the first move creates an unstoppable threat, the second delivers mate.
Difficulty 1950 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
White to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
Mate in two usually opens with a forcing move — a check, a capture or an unstoppable threat — that strips the king of squares or defenders, so the follow-up mate becomes unavoidable. Look for the first move that leaves the opponent only losing replies.
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, queen b7, bishop e3 e6, pawn a2 b2 c2 f2 h2.
Black: king d8, queen g1, rook a8 h8, bishop d1 f8, knight b8, pawn c6 f6 a7 g7 h7.
9 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 16.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 13 points of material (20 against 33; 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 d8.
It is White to move on move 16, with 45 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): d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: g.
The White king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
16. Qc8+ Ke7 17. Bc5#
Why it works
- Great move! queen to c8 keeps the pressure (#1).
- Well found: bishop to c5 (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 2.
- If instead Ke7, then Bc5# and it is mate.
Move by move
- 16. Qc8+ — queen to c8 with check
- Ke7 — king to e7
- 17. Bc5# — bishop to c5 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Boden's mate
Two bishops cross their diagonals over a king blocked by its own pieces.
Boden's mate crosses two bishop diagonals over a king blocked by its own pieces. The classic victim has castled on the queenside: its own rook and pawns have stolen the escape squares, and the bishops slash crosswise. The trigger is usually a queen sacrifice that blasts open the second diagonal. Whenever the enemy king is boxed in by its friends, ask whether both of your bishops can reach it on crossing diagonals.
Mate in 2
A forced checkmate in two moves.
Mate in two: your move, any reply, then the mating blow. Start with the most forcing first moves — checks and sacrifices that shrink the opponent's options to almost nothing. Against every single reply you must have a mate ready, so check them all without exception. The common failure is analyzing the pretty defense and forgetting the boring one.
Relative pin
A piece shields a more valuable one behind it — moving it loses material.
In a relative pin the piece shields not its king but something valuable behind it, usually the queen. Moving is legal but costly, because the piece behind falls. Look for three units on one line: your long-range piece, a cheaper enemy piece, and an expensive one hiding behind. Beware the classic trap — a relatively pinned piece can still move with check or a bigger threat, so verify before you cash in.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 014
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