Win the hanging queen on f8
li-0KJU6Opens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Hanging piece: your opponent left a piece undefended — take it.
Difficulty 1903 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 h1, queen f7, knight g1, pawn a3 d3 g3 b4 c4.
Black: king h8, queen d1, bishop f8, pawn e2 b6 a7 c7 g7.
8 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 38.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 17 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on h1, the black king on h8.
It is White to move on move 38, with 24 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): f, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: e.
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
38. Qxf8+ Kh7 39. Qf5+ g6 40. Qf7+
Why it works
- Great move! queen to f8 keeps the pressure (+4.9).
- Well found: queen to f5 (+5.1).
- Strong! queen to f7 is the sharp choice (+5.3).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Kh7, then Qf5+ and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 38. Qxf8+ — queen to f8 (capture) with check
- Kh7 — king to h7
- 39. Qf5+ — queen to f5 with check
- g6 — pawn to g6
- 40. Qf7+ — queen to f7 with check
Types in this puzzle
Check chase
Every move is a check — the king is chased into losing ground.
In a check chase every one of your moves is a check, so the opponent never gets a free second. The king is herded across the board until it loses a piece or walks into a decisive blow. Such lines are the easiest to calculate: each check allows only a handful of replies, so try them all. Make it a habit to start calculating any sharp position with the checks — they are the most forcing moves on the board.
Queen endgame
Queens on an open board — precision above all.
Queen endgames are treacherous: the queen reaches everywhere, and one slip turns a win into perpetual check. The signs are few pawns, exposed kings, and checks hanging in the air. Tuck your king away early, and use your own checks to bring the queen closer or push your passer with tempo. The typical mistake is grabbing pawns while leaving your king exposed to endless checks.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 014
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads