Mate in 2: knight to d2
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The tactical motive
Mate in 2: the first move creates an unstoppable threat, the second delivers mate.
Difficulty 2040 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
Black to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
Mate in two usually opens with a forcing move — a check, a capture or an unstoppable threat — that strips the king of squares or defenders, so the follow-up mate becomes unavoidable. Look for the first move that leaves the opponent only losing replies.
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 e4, bishop d3, knight e3, pawn f4 g4 b5 d5.
Black: king d6, bishop e7, knight b3, pawn c3 b6 g6 h7.
7 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 45.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 10 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on e4, the black king on d6.
It is Black to move on move 45, with 18 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): a, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: d, f.
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
45... Nd2+ 46. Kd4 Bf6#
Why it works
- Great move! knight to d2 keeps the pressure (#1).
- Well found: bishop to f6 (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 2.
- If instead Kd4, then Bf6# and it is mate.
Move by move
- 45… Nd2+ — knight to d2 with check
- 46. Kd4 — king to d4
- Bf6# — bishop to f6 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Mate in 2
A forced checkmate in two moves.
Mate in two: your move, any reply, then the mating blow. Start with the most forcing first moves — checks and sacrifices that shrink the opponent's options to almost nothing. Against every single reply you must have a mate ready, so check them all without exception. The common failure is analyzing the pretty defense and forgetting the boring one.
Minor-piece endgame
Bishops and knights duel — geometry decides.
A minor-piece endgame leaves only bishops and knights with pawns, and geometry decides. The bishop loves an open board and play on both wings; the knight loves fixed pawns and outpost squares. Check which color squares the pawns stand on and where the knight can actually reach in time. Practical tip: against a knight, spread the play across both flanks — short legs cannot cover everything.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 014
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