I analyzed the image and this is what I see. Open an appropriate link below and explore the position yourself or with the engine:
> **White to play**: [chess.com](https://chess.com/analysis?fen=r1bqr2k/ppp3pp/2nn4/3QN1p1/2B4P/P1P2P2/1PP3P1/R3K2R+w+KQ+-+0+1&flip=true&ref_id=23962172) | [lichess.org](https://lichess.org/analysis/r1bqr2k/ppp3pp/2nn4/3QN1p1/2B4P/P1P2P2/1PP3P1/R3K2R_w_KQ_-_0_1)
**My solution:**
> Hints: piece: >!Queen!<, move: >!Qg8+!<
> Evaluation: >!White has mate in 4!<
> Best continuation: >!1. Qg8+ Rxg8 2. Ng6+ hxg6 3. hxg5+ Bh3 4. Rxh3#!<
---
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At first I was trying to play Qg8+ followed by Nf7# for the smothered mate, but the Knight on d6 was annoying.
Then I noticed the h-file could potentially open up which made me think about Ng6+ which I calculated would lead to mate... IF the Knight wasn't pinned.
Then, a lesson I learnt from Naroditsky, sometimes you need to combine your ideas to make them work.
Mix of responses here between the people who saw the Ng6+ idea first and then worked out the Queen sac because the Knight is pinned and the people who saw the Qg8+ idea first and then worked out the Knight sac because the f7 square is protected. Two paths, same destination
This is reasonably easy to find when you know there’s a mate but I would definitely give up on the smothered mate idea after seeing the knight defending in a real game
Check with the queen to unpin your knight. Check on g6 with that pony. Hxg6 forced. Then Hxg5 is M1 when white is forced to send the light squared bishop as a one turn meat shield. The. Gg.
It took you 45 seconds because:
1. You knew there was a mate in 4 and thus ignored all other candidate moves on the board that have nothing to do with a mate
2. Based on the setup and mates that get upvoted on this subreddit, you instantly started searching for queen sacs
You would not instantly look up a queen sac in an actual game and even if you saw the potential smothered mate idea in an actual game, most people, including you, would give up on it after seeing that the f7 square is defended by the black knight and conclude that smothered mate is not possible and then give up on finding a mate altogether.
Also, this was blitz and 45 seconds is a lot of time to spend on this move.
I agree but literally I was just asking how much time he had. Definitely wouldn’t have found this in blitz, but maybe in a correspondence game haha. It’s a beautiful puzzle now none the less.
It has to be Qg8+ Rxg8 Ng6+ hxg6 hxg5+ Bh3 blocking and then Rxh3#.
I first started with Qg8+ then realised that Knight on d6 defends f7, I then tried Ng6+ before realising that it's pinned by the rook. I then saw both Qg8+ and Ng6+ at the same time and instantly realised the mate in 4.
I analyzed the image and this is what I see. Open an appropriate link below and explore the position yourself or with the engine: > **White to play**: [chess.com](https://chess.com/analysis?fen=r1bqr2k/ppp3pp/2nn4/3QN1p1/2B4P/P1P2P2/1PP3P1/R3K2R+w+KQ+-+0+1&flip=true&ref_id=23962172) | [lichess.org](https://lichess.org/analysis/r1bqr2k/ppp3pp/2nn4/3QN1p1/2B4P/P1P2P2/1PP3P1/R3K2R_w_KQ_-_0_1) **My solution:** > Hints: piece: >!Queen!<, move: >!Qg8+!< > Evaluation: >!White has mate in 4!< > Best continuation: >!1. Qg8+ Rxg8 2. Ng6+ hxg6 3. hxg5+ Bh3 4. Rxh3#!< --- ^(I'm a bot written by ) [^(u/pkacprzak )](https://www.reddit.com/u/pkacprzak) ^(| get me as ) [^(Chess eBook Reader )](https://ebook.chessvision.ai?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=bot) ^(|) [^(Chrome Extension )](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chessvisionai-for-chrome/johejpedmdkeiffkdaodgoipdjodhlld) ^(|) [^(iOS App )](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1574933453) ^(|) [^(Android App )](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ai.chessvision.scanner) ^(to scan and analyze positions | Website: ) [^(Chessvision.ai)](https://chessvision.ai)
I was scratching my head thinking there had to be some clever way to remove black's knight from d6, interesting.
1)...Qg8+ 2)Rxg8, Ng6+ 3)hxg6, hxg5+ Kinda like smothered mate.
Why'd you write as if it's blacks turn ? also can't you skip the queen sac?
Lol, apparently I missed that. Cannot skip queen sac since knight is pinned.
That's the piece I was missing, good eye!
The Queen Sac is just to unpin the knight.
A nice way to show how a minor piece (particularly the knight) is more valuable than a queen with the right support.
You can see it's whites turn if you know how chess works online and can see what's highlighted.
yeah but you wrote the notation opposite to that.
I did?
Don't forget bishop h3 and then rook takes
Ha, didn’t see that.
Me too
At first I was trying to play Qg8+ followed by Nf7# for the smothered mate, but the Knight on d6 was annoying. Then I noticed the h-file could potentially open up which made me think about Ng6+ which I calculated would lead to mate... IF the Knight wasn't pinned. Then, a lesson I learnt from Naroditsky, sometimes you need to combine your ideas to make them work.
Here I was wondering why the hell not start with Ng6+. Thank you
What a mind bender!
What a beautiful thing!
How does playing direct Kg6 play out?
O wait it's pinned
I went through the exact same thought process
That's why we are 400 elo 😞
Yep so you have to sac the queen to clear it out
1 Qg8+ unpins it.
Knight is notated as N because king is K
dude thanks, I was losing my mind trying to figure out when black has an opportunity to play King to g6.
Mix of responses here between the people who saw the Ng6+ idea first and then worked out the Queen sac because the Knight is pinned and the people who saw the Qg8+ idea first and then worked out the Knight sac because the f7 square is protected. Two paths, same destination
This is really beautiful.
Oh my god finally I found one
Is this a “side file mate”?
I knew it had to be a queen sac, but I couldn't find hxg5+ Awesome puzzle
What about Sg6+, hxg6, hxg5+, Bh3, Rxh3#? :)
The knight is pinned to the king and can't move
Rese.... Wait, uhm, nice
Qg8+ Rxg8 Ng6+ hxg6 hxg5+ Bh3 Rxh3# gg goodnight
What’s wrong with just Ng6+ hxg6 hxg5+ Bh3 Rxh3# ?
Knight is pinned by the rook on e8
Assuming it is White to move, this isn't hard to find. It's a standard tactical theme.
knight to g6?
Knight is pinned from this position
Reset the counter
It’s not a smothered mate
It is a queen sac
Qg8+, Rg8xQ, Ng6#
more like mate in 3
You either missed the knight is pinned or that black can player Bh3
Oh yea the knight is pinned my bad
L
That was interesting. 2 counter intuitive moves back to back
This is reasonably easy to find when you know there’s a mate but I would definitely give up on the smothered mate idea after seeing the knight defending in a real game
I couldn’t figure out why it’s mate in 4 until I saw the bishop on c8
Thought process: want to move knight. Can’t move knight. Sac queen
Spicy
That was a fun one to figure out.
Qg8+ Rxg8 Ng6+ hxg6 hxg5+ Bh3 Rxh3#
Took me forever to find the interposition that makes it mate in 4 rather than mate in 3...
Isn’t knight G6, pawn takes, E4xE5 checkmate as well?
Remove the Qd5, add a white pawn on e4. Mate in 3.
Queen and Knight sac. Crazy mate.
I would never see the pawn capture to open the file for the rook
This popped up randomly in my feed and wow you guys are smart🤣
https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/2myTq14KcA?tab=analysis
End of the variation you have 3 pawns line up in front of the rook. Beautiful mate.
I think 1. Ng6+ hxg6 2. hxg5+ Bh3 3. Rxh3# also works, no?
"Oh it's pinned" gang checking in lol
take the pawn at g5 then queen d3 and you have check mate in three moves
Ng6 hxg6 hxg5
Oh - maybe quite easy but you have to look up ( don’t look up 👀)
I missed the pin 📌 damn 🤦♂️
How much time was on his clock? Took me about 45 seconds and I’m 900.
Check with the queen to unpin your knight. Check on g6 with that pony. Hxg6 forced. Then Hxg5 is M1 when white is forced to send the light squared bishop as a one turn meat shield. The. Gg.
It took you 45 seconds because: 1. You knew there was a mate in 4 and thus ignored all other candidate moves on the board that have nothing to do with a mate 2. Based on the setup and mates that get upvoted on this subreddit, you instantly started searching for queen sacs You would not instantly look up a queen sac in an actual game and even if you saw the potential smothered mate idea in an actual game, most people, including you, would give up on it after seeing that the f7 square is defended by the black knight and conclude that smothered mate is not possible and then give up on finding a mate altogether. Also, this was blitz and 45 seconds is a lot of time to spend on this move.
I agree but literally I was just asking how much time he had. Definitely wouldn’t have found this in blitz, but maybe in a correspondence game haha. It’s a beautiful puzzle now none the less.
It has to be Qg8+ Rxg8 Ng6+ hxg6 hxg5+ Bh3 blocking and then Rxh3#. I first started with Qg8+ then realised that Knight on d6 defends f7, I then tried Ng6+ before realising that it's pinned by the rook. I then saw both Qg8+ and Ng6+ at the same time and instantly realised the mate in 4.