Win the hanging queen on h4
li-0F81QOpens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Hanging piece: your opponent left a piece undefended — take it.
Difficulty 1911 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
White 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 g3, rook e1 e6, knight e4, pawn a2 b2 c3 g4.
Black: king g8, queen f4, rook f1 f8, knight h4, pawn c6 g6 a7 b7.
9 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 40.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 26 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on b1, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 40, with 34 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d, e, f, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
The White king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
40. Qxh4 Rxe1+ 41. Qxe1
Why it works
- Great move! queen to h4 keeps the pressure (+5.2).
- Well found: queen to e1 (+4.9).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Rxe1+, then Qxe1 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 40. Qxh4 — queen to h4 (capture)
- Rxe1+ — rook to e1 (capture) with check
- 41. Qxe1 — queen to e1 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Clearance
Clear your own piece out of the way — with tempo — for the decisive blow.
Clearance is about your own piece standing in the way of the decisive blow — so you move it aside, or even throw it away. The key is to clear with tempo: jump off with a check, a capture or a threat, giving the opponent no time to regroup. The telltale sign: you see a crushing queen or rook move, but one of your own pieces blocks the line or occupies the square. Do not cling to it — a clearance sacrifice usually costs less than a missed attack.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 014
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