Mate in 2: rook to d6 (h6)
li-0Min6naming tag (square·N)Opens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Mate in 2: the first move creates an unstoppable threat, the second delivers mate.
Difficulty 2129 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
White 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 b1, queen e5, rook h6, pawn a2 b2 g3.
Black: king d7, queen g8, rook b8 c8, pawn d4 f5 b6 a7.
6 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 41.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 6 points of material (17 against 23; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b1, the black king on d7.
It is White to move on move 41, with 39 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, e, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d, f.
The White king has 1 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
41. Rd6+ Kc7 42. Qe7#
Why it works
- Great move! rook to d6 keeps the pressure (#1).
- Well found: queen to e7 (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 2.
- If instead Kc7, then Qe7# and it is mate.
Move by move
- 41. Rd6+ — rook to d6 with check
- Kc7 — king to c7
- 42. Qe7# — queen to e7 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Ladder mate
Two heavy pieces climb line by line, cutting off every retreat.
The ladder mate uses two heavy pieces climbing rung by rung: one cuts the king off along a line, the other checks on the next line, driving him toward the edge. It is the classic two-rook technique — check, the king retreats one rank, the other rook checks, until mate on the last rank. The only danger is the king creeping close enough to attack one of your rooks. If it does, simply slide that rook to the far side of the same line.
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.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 015
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