Double check
Two pieces give check at once, so only the king can move.
The idea
Two pieces give check at once, so only the king can move.
- The knight gives check.
- The rook gives check at the same time.
- Nothing can block or take both, so the king must move.
In a game: Look for a discovered check where the piece that moves gives check too.
How the lesson begins
A double check is a check by two pieces at once. It can only be answered by moving the king, because no single move can block or capture two checking pieces.
Here White’s knight on d6 and rook on e1 both give check. Black’s bishop attacks the knight, but taking it would not stop the rook’s check, so the bishop may not move at all. The king has just one square. Press Next move.
- 1... Kd8 The king’s only move. Black could not take the knight or block the rook.
- 2. Nxf7+ The knight takes a pawn with check and forks the king and the rook on h8.
Find the move
White to move. The knight stands in front of the rook. Find a move that gives double check and checkmate.
A hint
Move the knight to a square that attacks the king.
Show the answer
1. Nd6#
Nd6# and Nf6# both work. The knight gives check, and the rook on e1 checks too, now that the knight has left the e-file. Black’s own pieces fill the other squares around the king, and the e7 square is covered by the rook.
In numbers
In the puzzle bank
988 puzzles in GreyChess’s bank practise it. Half of them are rated between 1,290 and 2,213.
The piece that makes the first move of the answer: knight 41%, rook 19%, queen 17%, bishop 12%, pawn 11%, in puzzles from the Lichess puzzle database.