Win the hanging queen on d6 (e7)
li-0EZiGnaming 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 1991 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 g1, queen g5, rook d6 b8, bishop f5, pawn f2 a3 d4 g4 h4 e6.
Black: king g8, queen e7, rook c3 f6, bishop c8, pawn a4 g7 h7.
11 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 39.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 3 points of material (28 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 g1, the black king on g8.
It is Black to move on move 39, with 34 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, c — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: d, e, f.
The Black king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
39... Qxd6 40. e7 Qxe7
Why it works
- Great move! queen to d6 keeps the pressure (+3.2).
- Well found: queen to e7 (+3.1).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead e7, then Qxe7 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 39… Qxd6 — queen to d6 (capture)
- 40. e7 — pawn to e7
- Qxe7 — queen to e7 (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 014
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