Mate in 2: rook to b8 (b5·2)
li-0O4mgnaming 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 1989 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
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 d2, rook b5, bishop e3, pawn f2 a3 b4 e5 c6.
Black: king e8, queen h1, rook f3, pawn a4 g4 e6 f7.
8 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 51.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 5 points of material (13 against 18; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d2, the black king on e8.
It is White to move on move 51, with 18 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: g.
The White king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
51. Rb8+ Ke7 52. Bc5#
Why it works
- Great move! rook to b8 keeps the pressure (#1).
- Well found: bishop to c5 (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 2.
- If instead Ke7, then Bc5# and it is mate.
Move by move
- 51. Rb8+ — rook to b8 with check
- Ke7 — king to e7
- 52. Bc5# — bishop to c5 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.
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