Clearance and interference
Clear the way for your own piece, or cut a line between two enemy pieces.
The idea
Clear the way for your own piece, or cut a line between enemy pieces.
- The knight stands in the way of its own rook.
- It takes a pawn with check, and Black must take the knight.
- Now the file is open, and the rook gives mate.
In a game: When your own piece blocks your rook or bishop, look for a check that moves it away.
How the lesson begins
A clearance moves a piece off a square or a line so that another piece can use it, ideally with check, so that the other side has no time to react.
Here White’s knight on g5 stands in front of its rook on g1 and blocks the g-file. Watch it clear the way.
- 33. Nxh7+ Nxh7 34. Rg8#
Find the move
White to move. Your knight stands in front of the rook on the e-file, and the bishop on h6 covers g7 and f8. Find the mate in two.
A hint
Move the knight with check, so the rook behind it can reach e8.
Show the answer
1. Nf6+ Kh8 2. Re8#
Nf6+ clears the e-file with check. Nothing can take the knight, so the king has only one move, Kh8. Then Re8# is mate: the rook and the knight cover g8, the bishop covers g7, and the king’s own pawn stands on h7.
In numbers
In the puzzle bank
974 puzzles in GreyChess’s bank practise it. Half of them are rated between 1,324 and 2,377.
The piece that makes the first move of the answer: knight 31%, rook 30%, queen 20%, bishop 10%, pawn 7%, king 3%, in puzzles from the Lichess puzzle database.