Discovered attack: bishop to d6
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The tactical motive
Discovered attack: one piece steps aside, unleashing another's attack.
Difficulty 2224 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
White 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 d8, bishop f8, pawn b2 g2 b3 h3 c4 d5.
Black: king g8, queen e1, rook c3, bishop g6, pawn f5 a6 d6 b7.
9 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 40.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 3 points of material (18 against 21; 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 White to move on move 40, with 23 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, f.
The White king has 0 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
40. Bxd6+ Qe8 41. Qxe8+ Bxe8 42. bxc3
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to d6 keeps the pressure (+5.3).
- Well found: queen to e8 (+5.5).
- Strong! pawn to c3 is the sharp choice (+5.6).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qe8, then Qxe8+ and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 40. Bxd6+ — bishop to d6 (capture) with check
- Qe8 — queen to e8
- 41. Qxe8+ — queen to e8 (capture) with check
- Bxe8 — bishop to e8 (capture)
- 42. bxc3 — pawn to c3 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Win the pinned piece
The pinned piece cannot run — attack it again and win it.
A pinned piece cannot flee, which means you can win it outright by attacking it one more time. Count attackers against defenders: if you outnumber them, the piece is yours. The best extra attacker is a pawn, since it costs less than anything it might capture. Do not rush the capture — build up the pressure first, then harvest.
Simplification
Trade the heavy pieces and steer into a won endgame.
Simplification is how you convert an advantage: by trading queens and rooks you extinguish the counterplay and steer the game into a won endgame. The rule is simple — the side with extra material trades pieces but keeps pawns. Look for exchanges once the material is already won and your opponent is still rattling threats. The mistake is avoiding the queen trade and letting him muddy the water forever.
Discovered check
The moving piece opens a check — and is free to grab anything meanwhile.
With a discovered check the moving piece unmasks a check from the piece standing behind it. While the king deals with the check, the piece that moved grabs whatever it likes, free of charge. Look for your long-range piece on a line with the enemy king, with exactly one of your own pieces in between. The rule: among all the ways to step aside, pick the one that captures or attacks the most expensive loot.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 015
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