More Puzzle Themes!

Here are some puzzles I like. I think they all exhibit some tactical feature outside of the usual themes. Sometimes the distinction is subtle but I enjoyed thinking about these new categories. For example, the double pin is amazingly powerful and the minimalistic mate is very satisfying.

Table of Contents

• Friendly Interference
• The Minimalistic Mate
• The Caged Piece
• The Double Pin
• White Space
• The Red Herring

Friendly Interference

This happens when a higher-value piece gets in the way of a defender.

White to play and win.

View on Lichess

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The solution is Bc4, hitting the queen (which is defending the rook). The queen has to move up to f5 where it is suddenly getting in the way of the bishop defending the knight on g4, so the white rook can simply capture the knight. The queen is interfering with its own pieces.

I like this one because at first glance, it looks like Black’s bishop is defending the g4-knight and after an eventual recapture on g4, Black’s rooks would be linked and Black’s position consolidated. But no! After the winning move, the queen has to interfere and that consolidation cannot take place.

The Minimalistic Mate

This is when it doesn’t look like there is enough material to checkmate and yet, the geography of the board makes it somehow possible.

White to play and win.

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The solution is g4, baiting the king to come closer. After ...Kxg4 f3 Kxf3, the queen can deliver checkmate with Qg2#. The bishop and the queen are enough to checkmate on a clear board.

The Caged Piece

This is like the trapped piece but without a capture.

White to play and win.

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This example is from the book Cognitive Chess by Konstantin Chernyshov.

The solution is Be6+ followed by Bc8. The rook is not captured but it cannot move at all. This is enough for White to then push the g-pawn and win.

The Double Pin

This is when a piece is pinned on more than one file, rank, or diagonal.

Black to play and win.

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Here the gorgeous move is ...Qf4, pinning the bishop to the queen so White cannot get away with Bxb6. The reply Bxf4 is not possible because White’s bishop is pinned (to the king).

The winning move ...Qf4 puts pressure on the pinned bishop and after White defends it with Nd1, Black can add another attacker with ...Nxd5. White can still defend with Kf2 but their position is so cramped it’s losing.

White Space

This is when the tactical win is already visible on the board but it needs a little carving out before actually winning.

White to play and win.

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Here the solution is Qd6, simply attacking Black’s queen. After ...Qxd6 exd6, Black should probably move their rook and White will win either the knight or the bishop. In the initial position, there is already a double attack (or a skewer) by the white rook on Black’s knight and bishop. But the white space needs to be sculpted out by trading the queen, the only defender of the two minor pieces.

Actually after exd6 by White, there is a nice triple attack on the board (Black’s rook, knight, and bishop are all hanging).

The Red Herring

This is not my original idea. It is mentioned in the introduction to The Woodpecker Method, for example. This is when a puzzle looks like it’ll be about one thing but is really about another.

White to play and win.

View on Lichess

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It might look like this puzzle revolves around the pin of Black’s bishop to the queen but the bishop cannot be taken because Black’s queen will simply take the bishop on c4. So perhaps Qe2 can defend the c4-bishop and put pressure on the pinned piece? Sadly, that doesn’t work because Black can move a rook to e8 to defend the bishop and x-ray the white queen. Perhaps Bxf7+ is a desperado sacrifice? This does work and does win a pawn back but the resulting position is roughly equal.

The best continuation starts by taking the bishop, allowing Black’s queen to take the bishop on c4, but then the queen is trapped after Rf4. So the puzzle is not about the pin at all, but about trapping the queen.

Outro

Voilà. These were six puzzle themes that I haven’t heard about—or at least not very often. They are not listed in the puzzle themes on Lichess, for example. Some of these themes might be rare in practice but their elegance is pleasing.