2024/05/21 DPA: "'Enter My Parlor' Said The Spider To The Fly"

White to move.

Black's King has only one escape square:  g4.

If White can get his Queen to g3 without the Black Rook guarding it, that's checkmate [Dovetail Mate].

1. Qh4+ is bad due to 1. ... Qg4+, blocking check and counter-checking.

1. Qh2+ Kg4

1. Ne3 Nxe3+. 2. fxe3+ Rxe3. 3. Qh2+ Kg4:  Black's Rook is hanging but White's Queen is attacked by the Bishop.

I'm overlooking something obvious.

Oh, and White's Queen is en prise.

1. Rxe4+ Qxe4+  2. Qxe4+ Kxe4. 3. Nd2+ Kd4. 4. Nxb3 wins a pawn.

I see it:  1. Qh2+ Kg4. 2. Qh4#.

.

Why did I struggle to see this?  I saw 1. Qh2+ but thought that 1. ... Kg4 escaped.  I also saw 1. Qh4+ which is bad due to 1. ... Qg4+.  But I didn't combine them in the right order.

I also got stuck on trying to make the Dovetail Mate work but I didn't initially recognize the solution mate:  the Queen delivers checkmate but the other pieces [including Black's pieces] were needed to complete the mating net on both moves.

The key is to first attract the King to g4 so when White plays 2. Qh4, Black cannot block with the Queen and counter-check.