The exposed king
A king with a pawn missing in front of it invites checks that also win material.
The idea
A king with a pawn missing invites checks that also win material.
- White’s king has lost its g-pawn, so g2, g3 and g4 are empty.
- Qg5+ checks the king along the g-file.
- The same move attacks the rook on c1, which falls next.
In a game: When a king has lost a pawn in front of it, look for a check that also attacks a loose piece.
How the lesson begins
Material is level: a queen, a rook and five pawns each. The difference is the kings. Black’s king still has pawns on f7, g7 and h7. White’s king has lost its g-pawn, so g2, g3 and g4 in front of it are empty.
The engine says Black is already winning. Look for the reason before you move.
Find the move
Find the queen check that also attacks something.
A hint
Which check on the g-file also lines up with the rook on c1?
Show the answer
1... Qg5+
Qg5+ checks the king along the g-file and attacks the rook on c1 along the diagonal at the same time. White must deal with the check first, so the rook falls.
In numbers
In the puzzle bank
2,154 puzzles in GreyChess’s bank practise it. Half of them are rated between 1,543 and 2,422.
The piece that makes the first move of the answer: rook 36%, queen 29%, pawn 12%, bishop 10%, knight 9%, king 5%, in puzzles from the Lichess puzzle database.