2026/04/26 DPA: "Squares, Squares Everywhere But Not A Safe Place To Go"

White to move:

.

This must be a material gain puzzle; namely, the Queen.

Looking for a fork, pin, or skewer.

1. Rg1 Qxb5. 2. Rg5+ is a skewer but 1. ... Qxb5 is not forced and Black will avoid this.

What makes this puzzle so seemingly difficult is the huge number of squares the Queen can use.  Calculating every one is daunting.

Since that's not the usual MO of a puzzle, not even Sunday, there is probably symmetry the Solver can use to cut down the number of calculations needed.

The Knight controls d4 so the pawn push d4+ would be supported.

1. d4 then controls e5, making 2. Re5+ a possibility.

White needs to be concerned about getting checkmated if ... Qg6+  Kh4 Qg4# or the Queen can get to the h file.

The only Knight move that does not lead to immediate checkmate is 1. Nd4+.

• If 1. ... Kf6. 2. Re6+ Qxe6. 3. Nxe6 Kxe6 and Black wins.
• If 1. ... Kf4. 2. Re4+ Kg3. 3. Ne2+ Kf3 and I don't see a follow-up

So the Solver must beware of a line where he wins the Queen but must give up both Rook and Knight and the Black King ends up in a dominant position.

But I don't see how White can checkmate Black or achieve a pin/skewer/fork.

Let's approach it from the opposite direction:  what can we eliminate?

• There's only one King move [1. Kh6 is illegal due to the Queen]:  1. Kh4.  And what does that accomplish?  Nothing.  And we lose our Knight.
• 1. d4 Qg6+. 2. Kh4 Qg4#
• Every Knight move except 1. Nd4+
• The only Rook move that prevents checkmate on g4 is either 1. Re4 or 1. Rg1.  But again:  what do those moves accomplish?  And Black can move 1. ... Qf6, threatening 2. ... Qh8# and 2. ... Qg5#.  So that eliminates 1. Re4.  1. Rg1 is still possible because if 1. ... Qxb5. 2. Rg5+ [skewer].
  • But Black has so many other options besides taking the Knight.
  • There's also 1. Rf1+:  1. ... Ke6??  2. Nc7+ [fork].  So 1. ... Ke5.
    • 2. d4+ Ke6??  3. Nc7+; 2. ... Kd5??  3. Nc7+
      • 2. ... Ke4

Any setup move allows the Black Queen to roam.

The only checks are 1. Rf1 and 1. Nd4.

The problem with 1. Rf1+ is that it allows the King to move towards the center although that may not be a deal-breaker as checkmate seems unlikely even if we could confine the King.

And the problem with 1. Nd4+ is that it seems to lead nowhere.

.

1. Nd4+ Kf6. 2. Re6+ Qxe6. 3. Nxe6 Kxe6 and this is a draw.

Also, the Queen is no longer in fork range of the Knight.

1. Rf1+ seems the most promising.

1. ... Ke5. 2. d4+ Ke4. 3. Re1+ Kd3 and the fork doesn't exist, as the King must be on either d5 or e4.

The drawback of 2. d4+ is that it allows 2. ... Ke4 and from there the 3rd rank where no Royal Fork is possible.

So maybe the pawn must be kept there for now.

2. Kg5:  the Knight is verboten as 2. ... Qxb5. 3. Rf5+ [skewer].

Two of the squares the King can move to, d5 and e6, lead to the RF

This puzzle has the feeling of one where the opponent has many moves with the Queen and they are all covered or lead to the RF.

Qa7, a3, a1, and d6, f6, g6, and h6 all lead to immediate capture.

• 2. ... Qa2. 3. Re1+ Kd5. 4. Nc3+, Royal Fork
• 2. ... Qa4 is similar.
• 2. ... Qa5  3. Rf5+ Ke6. 4. Nd4+, winning the Queen.
• 2. ... Qa8. 3. Rf5+, leads to the RF.
• 2. ... Qe6. 3. d4+ Kd5. 4. Nc7+; or 3. ... Ke4. 4. Re1+
• 2. ... Qc6. 3. Rf5+ Ke6. 4. Nd4+
• 2. ... Qb6. 3. Rf5+ Ke6. 4. Rf6+
• 2. ... b6. 3. Rf5+ Ke6. 4. Nc7+

So there are 2 K moves, 1 pawn move, and 15 Queen moves [7 along the a file, 7 along the 6th rank, and the capture on b5].

And every one loses.

That’s the beauty of the puzzle and one that experienced Solvers will recognize a priori.

I probably could have stopped at the 3rd or 4th variation because it sure looked like the solution but I wanted to verify it was winning and I also wanted to see how each variation would play out.

That was correct.

.

What made it easier was recognition that this was probably a particular type of puzzle where it looked like the opponent had a million choices and so that couldn't possibly be the solution but there were 2 repeating themes, Royal Fork and Skewer, that enabled the Solver to divide the puzzle into 2 parts where we only had to keep in mind those two themes.

This as opposed to treating every case independently.

What came to mind was a previous Daily Puzzle

https://www.chess.com/daily/2026-03-29

which involved forking the King and Rook even though the Rook had the entire 4th rank:  symmetry made solving it easier [although by no means easily].

I also have submitted a much simpler puzzle that seemingly allows the opponent many responses, all of which lose material.

.

The keys were:

• Recognizing the potential tactics [Skewer and Royal Fork] and that this was not a checkmate puzzle.
• Being able to eliminate everything except 1. Rf1+
• Seeing that moving the d pawn was a mistake, as it was needed to control e4.
• Being open-minded enough to consider the quiet move 2. Kg5, which limits the Black King in to a box of sorts where every move leads to either winning tactic.
• Being patient enough to then calculate every opponent response and our counter-response.

I failed yesterday's puzzle because I didn't see the significance of the absence of the e pawn and how that allowed a subsequent Nd6+.  I solved today's because I remembered past puzzles where the quiet move was needed to set the stage and this allowed me to consider 2. Kg5:  had I not recalled those past puzzles, I might not have even seen 2. Kg5.

.

1. Rf1+ Ke5 [1. ... Ke6. 2. Nc7+].

2. Kg5, the star move:  Black's King can only move to d5 or e6 and both lead to the Royal Fork.  That leaves the [many] Queen moves but, as shown previously, they all lead to either the Royal Fork or the Skewer.

It's well worth your time to investigate them all.

3. Re1+ forces the King to d5, a RF square.  3. Rf5+ Ke6 and the chance to win the Queen vanishes.

4. Nc3+.

5. Nxa2.