The windmill
A rook steps off and back with discovered checks, taking something on almost every swing.
The idea
A rook steps off and back with check, taking something each time.
- The rook takes on g7 with check, guarded by the bishop on f6.
- Each time the rook steps off g7, the bishop on f6 gives check.
- The rook takes on f7 and b7, then wins back the queen on h5.
In a game: Look for a rook shielding your bishop’s check, with loose pieces along the rook’s rank.
How the lesson begins
Torre against Lasker, Moscow 1925. White’s bishop on g5 stands between Black’s queen on b5 and White’s queen on h5. It also blocks White’s rook on g3, which points up the g-file at the black king.
Torre moved the bishop anyway, giving up his queen, and set up a windmill: a discovered check that repeats. One piece steps aside so that the piece behind it gives check, then steps back with a check of its own, and takes something each time it steps aside.
Find the move
Find Torre’s move. It lets Black take the queen.
A hint
Clear the g-file for the rook, and aim a second piece at g7.
Show the answer
25. Bf6 Qxh5
Bf6 attacks g7 and gets out of the rook’s way, so the pawn on g7 is now pinned by the rook on g3 and cannot take the bishop. The move also opens the fifth rank, and Lasker took the queen.
In numbers
In the puzzle bank
1,947 puzzles in GreyChess’s bank practise it. Half of them are rated between 1,402 and 2,231.
The piece that makes the first move of the answer: knight 28%, rook 18%, queen 17%, bishop 17%, pawn 16%, king 4%, in puzzles from the Lichess puzzle database.