Win the hanging rook on c1
li-0EyEUOpens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The 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
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, 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.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 5 points of material (24 against 19; 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 25, with 33 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 — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: a, d.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
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.
Move by move
- 25… Rxc1+ — rook to c1 (capture) with check
- 26. Bf1 — bishop to f1
- Nf7 — knight to f7
- 27. Nbd2 — knight to d2
- Rxa1 — rook to a1 (capture)
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
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads