Win the hanging rook on c1
li-0EyEUThe tactical motive
Hanging piece: your opponent left a piece undefended — take it.
Difficulty 2095 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
Black to move — find the best continuation
Position on the board
White: king g1, rook a1 c1, bishop e2, knight b1 f3, pawn a2 f2 g2 h2 d7.
Black: king g8, rook c8, bishop e4 g7, knight h6, pawn b4 e5 g5 f6 h7.
11 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 25.
Solution & explanation
Main line
25... Rxc1+ 26. Bf1 Nf7 27. Nbd2 Rxa1
Why it works
- Great move! rook to c1 keeps the pressure (+3.2).
- Well found: knight to f7 (+3.5).
- Strong! rook to a1 is the sharp choice (+3.4).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Bf1, then Nf7 and you win the rook.
Types in this puzzle
Relative pin
A piece shields a more valuable one behind it — moving it loses material.
In a relative pin the piece shields not its king but something valuable behind it, usually the queen. Moving is legal but costly, because the piece behind falls. Look for three units on one line: your long-range piece, a cheaper enemy piece, and an expensive one hiding behind. Beware the classic trap — a relatively pinned piece can still move with check or a bigger threat, so verify before you cash in.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 015
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