Discovered attack: knight to f3 (e5·6)
li-0CQhqnaming tag (square·N)Opens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Discovered attack: one piece steps aside, unleashing another's attack.
Difficulty 1978 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
Black 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 g1, queen g5, rook d1 f1, bishop e2, knight c3, pawn a2 b2 f2 g2 h2.
Black: king g8, queen a5, rook a8 f8, bishop c5, knight e5, pawn e6 g6 a7 b7 g7.
11 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 18.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 30 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on g1, the black king on g8.
It is Black to move on move 18, 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): c, d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: f, h.
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
18... Nf3+ 19. Bxf3 Bxf2+ 20. Rxf2 Qxg5
Why it works
- Great move! knight to f3 keeps the pressure (+3.9).
- Well found: bishop to f2 (+4.0).
- Strong! queen to g5 is the sharp choice (+4.0).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Bxf3, then Bxf2+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 18… Nf3+ — knight to f3 with check
- 19. Bxf3 — bishop to f3 (capture)
- Bxf2+ — bishop to f2 (capture) with check
- 20. Rxf2 — rook to f2 (capture)
- Qxg5 — queen to g5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
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.
Discovered attack
A piece steps aside and opens a second attack from the piece behind it.
A discovered attack works like a curtain: one piece steps off the line and unveils the long-range piece behind it. The beauty is that the moving piece can create a second threat of its own — two attacks in one move. Look for your stacked pairs: a bishop or rook behind a knight or pawn, aimed through them at something valuable. Send the front piece to the most aggressive square — a discovery without a second threat wastes half its power.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 014
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