Mate in 2: pawn to g4 (g5·2)
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The tactical motive
Mate in 2: the first move creates an unstoppable threat, the second delivers mate.
Difficulty 2088 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
Black 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 f3, rook d2, bishop d4, knight d5, pawn g2 a3 h3 b4 f4.
Black: king f7, rook e1, bishop g3 f5, pawn h4 g5 a6.
9 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 53.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 2 points of material (16 against 14; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on f3, the black king on f7.
It is Black to move on move 53, with 36 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: b, f.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
53... g4+ 54. hxg4 Be4#
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to g4 keeps the pressure (#1).
- Well found: bishop to e4 (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 2.
- If instead hxg4, then Be4# and it is mate.
Move by move
- 53… g4+ — pawn to g4 with check
- 54. hxg4 — pawn to g4 (capture)
- Be4# — bishop to e4 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.
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
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