Win the hanging queen on d1 (h5)
li-0DK7Nnaming tag (square·N)Opens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Hanging piece: your opponent left a piece undefended — take it.
Difficulty 1802 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
Black to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
A hanging piece is one that is attacked and not defended, or defended too few times. Count attackers against defenders on each enemy unit; where attackers win, take it — often with an in-between move or a check to gain the extra tempo.
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 b1, queen e3, rook d1 h2, bishop c8, knight b3 e4, pawn a2 b2 c2 h4.
Black: king g8, queen h5, rook a8, bishop e7, knight c6, pawn a4 b4 e5 d6 h6 f7 g7.
11 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 24.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 5 points of material (32 against 27; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b1, the black king on g8.
It is Black to move on move 24, with 33 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 7. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for Black: c.
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
24... Qxd1+ 25. Nc1 Rxc8
Why it works
- Great move! queen to d1 keeps the pressure (+4.1).
- Well found: rook to c8 (+4.1).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Nc1, then Rxc8 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 24… Qxd1+ — queen to d1 (capture) with check
- 25. Nc1 — knight to c1
- Rxc8 — rook to c8 (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.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 013
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