Daily Chess Puzzle #21: Swallow's tail mate, Deflection, Promotion and Discovered check

Four puzzles, four patterns: the swallow’s tail mate, the deflection, the promotion and the discovered check. Each position below comes from a real game in the open Lichess database and is engine-verified. Set the position up, give yourself the same few seconds the video does, and only then read the solution. Best for players rated about 1000 to 2700.

Puzzle 1: Swallow’s tail mate (beginner, rated 1046)

Black to play. White just played king to f1. Take a moment to look at the whole board. There is a forced mate here. Can you see how it starts?

Play it on Lichess before reading on: lichess.org/training/02jeT. It was rated 1046 in the Lichess database we took it from; ratings there shift a little as people solve it.

Solution

1. Qh1+ — Black: Queen to h1, check.
2. Ke2 — White: King to e2.
3. Qe1# — Black: Queen to e1, checkmate.

Queen to h1, check. The king cannot go to e1, because our bishop on g3 controls that square. White has no choice. King to e2. Queen to e1, checkmate.

The pattern. A swallow’s tail mate. The queen checks from directly in front, protected by a rook or bishop, while the king’s own pieces sit behind it and take away the flight squares.

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Puzzle 2: Deflection (intermediate, rated 1332)

Black to play. White just played king takes on f1. It wins a bishop, or so it seems. One defender is doing all the work. Can you find the move that drags it away?

Play it on Lichess before reading on: lichess.org/training/01osm. It was rated 1332 in the Lichess database we took it from; ratings there shift a little as people solve it.

Solution

1. Qd1+ — Black: Queen to d1, check.
2. Qe1 — White: Queen to e1.
3. Qxd4 — Black: Queen takes on d4.
4. Qe3+ — White: Queen to e3, check.
5. Qxe3 — Black: Queen takes on e3.

Queen to d1, check. The queen attacks the king on f1 and the knight on d4 at the same time. So White has just one move: queen to e1. Queen takes on d4. That wins the knight. White plays queen to e3, check. Now, queen takes on e3. The queens come off.

The pattern. We win the queen for a queen. Deflection. A defender is doing an important job, so we force it to leave, and the thing it was defending falls.

Puzzle 3: Promotion (advanced, rated 2247)

White to play. Black has just played pawn to b2. It looks natural, but it leaves something behind. The strongest move here is a quiet one. What is it?

Play it on Lichess before reading on: lichess.org/training/02OW7. It was rated 2247 in the Lichess database we took it from; ratings there shift a little as people solve it.

Solution

1. f7 — White: Pawn to f7.
2. b1=Q — Black: Pawn to b1, promoting to a queen.
3. Re7+ — White: Rook to e7, check.
4. Kb6 — Black: King to b6.
5. f8=Q — White: Pawn to f8, promoting to a queen.

Pawn to f7. Black tries pawn to b1, promoting to a queen. And now, rook to e7, check. The king cannot go to d7, because our rook on e7 controls that square. The king must move. King to b6. Now, pawn to f8, promoting to a queen.

The pattern. Promotion. The pawn reaches the last rank and becomes a queen, and everything else was about making that possible. If you were tempted by rook to e7, check, Black answers king to d6 and the chance is gone.

Puzzle 4: Discovered check (master, rated 2678)

Black to play. White has just played knight to c7. Take a moment to look at the whole board. The first move is a check. Which piece gives it?

Play it on Lichess before reading on: lichess.org/training/09QHj. It was rated 2678 in the Lichess database we took it from; ratings there shift a little as people solve it.

Solution

1. dxc4+ — Black: Pawn takes on c4, check.
2. Rf3 — White: Rook to f3.
3. Qf6 — Black: Queen to f6.
4. Kg1 — White: King to g1.
5. Bxf3 — Black: Bishop takes on f3.

Pawn takes on c4, check. The pawn steps aside, and our bishop on b7 now looks straight at the white king on h1. White tries rook to f3. Queen to f6. We offer the queen. White defends with king to g1. Bishop takes on f3. That wins the rook.

The pattern. A discovered check. If you were tempted by pawn to d4, check, White answers knight to d5 and the chance is gone.

One puzzle at a time

Each puzzle is also a one-minute Short if you want to try one on the phone:

• Rated 1046: Black mates in 2
• Deflection that 1300s miss
• Find the promotion in 3 seconds
• Rated 2678: the discovered check

Sources and disclosure

Puzzles 02jeT, 01osm, 02OW7, 09QHj from the Lichess open puzzle database (CC0). New puzzles every day on the RankUp Chess channel and on our videos page.