Deflection: queen to h4
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The tactical motive
Deflection: force the defender to abandon its post.
Difficulty 2003 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
Black to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
Deflection drags a defender away from its duty. Identify the enemy piece that guards a key square or mate, then force it to move — with a check, a capture or a threat it must answer — and strike where it no longer defends.
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 h4, rook f1, knight f3, pawn g2 c3 h3 b4 d4 a5 e5.
Black: king c8, queen f4, rook f5, bishop h6, pawn a6 e6 b7 c7 g7.
11 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 29.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 2 points of material (24 against 22; 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 c8.
It is Black to move on move 29, with 27 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: d, h.
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
29... Qxh4 30. Nxh4 Be3+ 31. Kh2 Rxf1
Why it works
- Great move! queen to h4 keeps the pressure (+4.7).
- Well found: bishop to e3 (+4.8).
- Strong! rook to f1 is the sharp choice (+4.8).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Nxh4, then Be3+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 29… Qxh4 — queen to h4 (capture)
- 30. Nxh4 — knight to h4 (capture)
- Be3+ — bishop to e3 with check
- 31. Kh2 — king to h2
- Rxf1 — rook to f1 (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.
Simplification
Trade the heavy pieces and steer into a won endgame.
Simplification is how you convert an advantage: by trading queens and rooks you extinguish the counterplay and steer the game into a won endgame. The rule is simple — the side with extra material trades pieces but keeps pawns. Look for exchanges once the material is already won and your opponent is still rattling threats. The mistake is avoiding the queen trade and letting him muddy the water forever.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 014
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