Mate in 2: double attack on h2
li-0CKzcOpens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Double attack: one move creates two threats at once.
Mate in 2: the first move creates an unstoppable threat, the second delivers mate.
Difficulty 1883 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
Black to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
A double attack threatens two things at once so the opponent cannot parry both. Look for a single move — often a queen or knight — that creates two separate threats, such as a check plus an attack on a loose piece.
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 h1, queen e1, rook a1 g1, knight f4, pawn b2 f2 h2 a3 g3 c4 d5.
Black: king c8, queen h3, rook h6 g8, pawn f3 e4 h4 a6 b7 c7.
12 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 34.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 4 points of material (29 against 25; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on h1, the black king on c8.
It is Black to move on move 34, with 36 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 6. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for Black: d, g.
The Black king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
34... Qxh2+ 35. Kxh2 hxg3#
Why it works
- Great move! queen to h2 keeps the pressure (#1).
- Well found: pawn to g3 (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 2.
- If instead Kxh2, then hxg3# and it is mate.
Move by move
- 34… Qxh2+ — queen to h2 (capture) with check
- 35. Kxh2 — king to h2 (capture)
- hxg3# — pawn to g3 (capture) and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Double-check mate
Double check leaves only king moves — and there are none.
The double-check mate ends the game with check from two pieces at once, leaving the king with nothing. Neither capturing nor blocking works against a double check — only a king move, and here there is none. Look for a discovered check where the front piece checks too: it may even land on a defended square with total impunity. That is why the double check crowns so many of the most beautiful sacrificial combinations.
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.
Pawn mate
The humblest soldier delivers the final blow.
The pawn mate lets the humblest soldier land the final blow. It happens to a king stuck among its own and enemy pieces: the pawn strikes diagonally from one square away and there is nowhere left to run. The sign: the squares around the king are covered or occupied, and your pawn stands one step from striking distance. Never write pawns out of your attack — their blows are the cheapest and therefore the most humiliating.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 014
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads