2026/05/08 DPA: "Lead, Follow, Or Get Outta The Way!"

White to move:

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Black is up a piece but has an exposed King.

The obvious 1. Qf5+ allows the Black King to escape with 1. ... Ke7  2. Qf7+ Kd6.

Is there a way we can cover d6?  The only piece that can do that is the DSB via c5 but that square is guarded by both Queen and b pawn.

1. Qxh7 seems too slow.

Black's Queen is undefended but I don't see a way of removing White's Knight, Black's Knight, and the b pawn to release a discovered attack by the White Queen.

How to involve the Knight?  Neither 1. Ng5 nor Nxe5 are feasible.

How about the f Rook?

Aah, I see something:  1. Bc5+ clears the f file except for the Knight.  1. ... Qxc5 [if Black declines the sac, we simply can win the Queen]. 2. Nd4^+ [which also supports d6] Bxf1  3. Rxf1+ Ke7. 4. Qe6#.

That was it.

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The key was seeing the potential Rook check on the f file and working backwards how that could be enabled [sac the Bishop with check then move the Knight to discover check but also to position it to support the Queen checkmate].

There's a lot of clutter on the board but, as with some puzzles, you start to see how irrelevant the opponent's pieces are.  For example, I mentally subtracted the Queen, LSB, and both Knights in considering the main line [the c6 Knight could have blocked the Bishop check but I assumed that would not occur since that would lead to White winning the Queen for free].

And the DSB and both Rooks were starting to seem like obstacles for Black, not White [they restrict the King's movement].

1. Bc5+ is step 1 in opening up the Rook on the f file.  We had a similar puzzle recently where the first move was Nf2-h1, not because the Knight contributed anything on h1 but because it got out of the way of the Rook on f1.

If Black declines the sac, we simply win the Queen.  Therefore, I assumed Black would accept.

2. Nd4^+ uncovers the Rook check but also positions the Knight to support e6.

3. Rxf1+ simply replaces one Rook with the other.

4. Qe6#.

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Some will miss that 2. Nd4 was a discovered check and wonder why Black didn't just capture the Knight.

This is a common oversight:  they see the piece that moved [the Knight] but not the one that was uncovered [the Rook].

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If you're still having trouble understanding, work backwards:  start the puzzle from just after Black's 3rd move 3. ... Ke7:  do you see why 4. Qe6 is checkmate?  The King has nowhere to go, the check cannot be blocked, and, critically, the checker cannot be captured.

Why?  Because the Knight is supporting the Queen.

How did the Knight get there?  2. Nd4.  Why was the Knight not captured?  Because the Knight move discovered check by the Rook.

How did the Rook come to operate on an open file?  Because in addition to the Knight moving, 1. Bc5+ removed the Bishop.