Mate in 2: double attack on h6
li-0Lv73Opens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Double attack: one move creates two threats at once.
Mate in 2: the first move creates an unstoppable threat, the second delivers mate.
Difficulty 1846 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
White to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
A double attack threatens two things at once so the opponent cannot parry both. Look for a single move — often a queen or knight — that creates two separate threats, such as a check plus an attack on a loose piece.
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 g2, queen g3, rook e1, bishop d2, knight g1, pawn b2 h3 c4 d5 g5.
Black: king g7, queen e7, rook e4 e8, bishop e2, knight f6, pawn b5 c5 a6 d6 h6 f7.
10 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 30.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 6 points of material (25 against 31; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g2, the black king on g7.
It is White to move on move 30, with 37 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, f.
The White king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
30. gxh6+ Kh8 31. Qg7#
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to h6 keeps the pressure (#1).
- Well found: queen to g7 (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 2.
- If instead Kh8, then Qg7# and it is mate.
Move by move
- 30. gxh6+ — pawn to h6 (capture) with check
- Kh8 — king to h8
- 31. Qg7# — queen to g7 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Supported queen mate
The queen delivers mate face to face, protected by a friend.
The supported queen mate is the most common pattern of all: the queen lands next to the king and mates because a friendly piece or pawn protects her. The king is helpless — capturing is impossible, and the queen covers every neighboring square herself. Hunt for a protected square beside the enemy king: a knight, bishop or pawn eyeing it turns her invasion into mate. Verify one thing — that the square really is defended, or the king eats her.
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.
Corner mate
Driven into the corner, the king runs out of squares.
The corner mate catches a king driven into the corner, where it has only three neighboring squares — all of them taken away or blocked. The corner is the worst home for a king, because the attacker needs to control the fewest squares there. Herd the king toward the corner with checks and never let it slip back toward the center. Cut off the escape routes before the final check, and the mate practically assembles itself.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 013
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads