Deflection: rook to d1 (e1·2)
li-09D2lnaming tag (square·N)Opens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Deflection: force the defender to abandon its post.
Difficulty 2190 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
Black to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
Deflection drags a defender away from its duty. Identify the enemy piece that guards a key square or mate, then force it to move — with a check, a capture or a threat it must answer — and strike where it no longer defends.
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 d3, rook a6, bishop d5, pawn b3 f4.
Black: king f6, rook e1, knight e6, pawn h6.
5 white and 4 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 45.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (10 against 9; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d3, the black king on f6.
It is Black to move on move 45, with 17 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 2 pawns, Black 1. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, c, d, e, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: b, f.
The Black king has 5 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
45... Rd1+ 46. Ke4 Rd4+ 47. Ke3 Rxd5
Why it works
- Great move! rook to d1 keeps the pressure (+2.7).
- Well found: rook to d4 (+2.6).
- Strong! rook to d5 is the sharp choice (+2.9).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Ke4, then Rd4+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 45… Rd1+ — rook to d1 with check
- 46. Ke4 — king to e4
- Rd4+ — rook to d4 with check
- 47. Ke3 — king to e3
- Rxd5 — rook to d5 (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.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
Endgame tactic
Tactics live in the endgame too — strike while material is scarce.
Tactics do not retire when the queens come off: forks, pins and double attacks live on in the endgame. With so little material left, every tactical loss is almost always decisive. The signs are the usual ones — undefended pieces, king and piece on one line, a pawn about to promote. Even in a "technical" ending, scan for a shot before every move, both yours and your opponent's.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 015
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads