Mate in 2: pawn to g6 (g5·4)
li-0U7I9naming 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 2113 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 c2, rook e1 h6, bishop d4, pawn a2 b2 g5.
Black: king f7, rook a8 e8, bishop e7, knight g4, pawn d5 c6 a7 b7.
7 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 28.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 4 points of material (16 against 20; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on c2, the black king on f7.
It is White to move on move 28, with 48 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): e, f, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, d.
The White king has 7 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
28. g6+ Kg8 29. Rh8#
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to g6 keeps the pressure (#1).
- Well found: rook to h8 (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 2.
- If instead Kg8, then Rh8# and it is mate.
Move by move
- 28. g6+ — pawn to g6 with check
- Kg8 — king to g8
- 29. Rh8# — rook to h8 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 015
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