Checks and Captures

In this series of puzzles your moves must be prioritised in the following order:

1. Capture with Check

2. Check

3. Capture

Every move you make must be one of the above three. Look for Capture with Checks first. If none, look for Checks. If none, look for Captures. These rules apply to all the puzzles in this topic. The point of following the rules is to speed up play by minimising calculation.  Some calculation may be required if choosing between multiple checks or captures, for example.

If multiple options are available, please take the option that gives the best compensation and is likely to continue checks and captures until Mate is achieved. Quite often the opponent King will hide behind a pawn. Of course, a Queen or Rook could capture that pawn and check the King. But, if your attacking piece is undefended the King will simply capture your piece. Don't let that happen unless you are deliberately sacrificing that piece to gain a tactical advantage. For example, deflecting the King onto a square to allow you to fork it with another high-value piece on your next move. I hope that helps.

This first puzzle is a Mate in 10. Some calculation is required to find the best move when multiple ways to check are presented or multiple captures are possible. After Black's response apply the rules sensibly in the priority order given in post #1.

This puzzle is a Mate in 8. Some calculation is required to find the best move when multiple ways to check are presented or multiple captures are possible. After Black's response apply the rules sensibly in the priority order given in post #1.

Although there is a quicker way to checkmate, follow the rules in #1 to mate in 10. Some calculation is required to find the best move when multiple ways to check are presented or multiple captures are possible. After Black's response apply the rules sensibly in the priority order given in post #1. Since there are multiple solutions to checkmate with the White Queen, this puzzle finishes with a checkmate by another piece.

Mate in 10. I know there are multiple quicker ways to checkmate with some calculation but follow the priority rules in post #1 to minimise calculation and speed up this endgame.

Mate in 9. Follow the priority rules in post #1 to minimise calculation and speed up this endgame.

Mate in 13. I know there is a faster way to checkmate but White still achieves 96.9 accuracy by following the rules in post #1. Some calculation is required to find the best move when multiple ways to check are presented or multiple captures are possible. After Black's response apply the rules sensibly in the priority order given in post #1. The final move has a couple of solutions. Only one can be chosen for the puzzle, so try both to finish the puzzle.

Just made one puzzle (no.1). Nice Idea. But I think it is made inconsequent. In Move 4 there are two possibilites to take with check. It´s necessary to calculate. But ok. But if I would follow your order in move 5 I had to play Qxe6 because it is a check with capture and therefore higher in priority than the correct Qc4. Next move the same. Only capture with check would be Qxe5+. Instead the middle rated (check) Ta6+ is the right answer.

These moves that you're suggesting give away the White Queen without any compensation. I'll update post #1 to make that point. Thanks for pointing that out. If you come across multiple choices again please take the option most likely to continue checks and captures. Sometimes a little calculation is necessary when multiple options are available but you shouldn't need to spend as much time calculating as were you trying to finish the puzzle in the fewest moves.

Let me add that the puzzles contain no blunders by both sides. I try to to ensure that both sides play at 90+ accuracy. So, if a move looks bad  if it looks like a mistake or blunder look for a better option. Thanks again for trying out the puzzles and for your feedback.

Mate in 10. White achieves an accuracy of 96.9 with these 10 moves by following the priority rules in post #1. As always, if given multiple options, take the option with the best compensation. The best option might be to sacrifice a piece to clear a path for your Queen!

This puzzle is a bit tricky as white has multiple options to capture. But I've chosen the best path to checkmate in 9 moves. Both sides play with 100% accuracy. Can you use the priority moves as noted in post #1 to make the right moves? Some calculation is required to find the best move when multiple ways to check are presented or multiple captures are possible. After Black's response apply the rules sensibly in the priority order given in post #1.

Quite honestly, I don't understand the rules at all. Even in the first puzzle, everything is fine until move 6. Then there are Bxg5+ and Qxe5+, the only moves that are check and capture, and neither of them is the solution. That kinda breaks the whole experiment, right?

Thankyou for your feedback. Somebody else raised the same point in post #9 to which I answered in post #10. Those options clearly have to be rejected because they are blunders. So, if a capture with check has no obvious compensation and looks like a blunder then look for a check. Same thing with checks - if a check looks like a blunder, look for a capture. Follow the rules but don't blunder. The moves in these puzzle are generally played by both sides with high accuracy. There are no blunders in these puzzles. Thanks again for looking at these puzzles.

After your answer, I am even more confused about the whole thing. How could you know if some move is a blunder or not unless you calculate the whole variation? And if you do calculate, that beats the whole point of the experiment: "No need to calculate ahead " - you wrote in the second post.

I think you're right. I checked the starting position in the first puzzle in post #2 and found 4 possible moves to check the Black King. See the diagram below.

So, some amount of calculation is required to choose the best move from those 4 options. My calculation of the red moves is that they would trigger a trade of pieces leaving White worse off without some other compensation. Therefore, the best move is Qa6+. However, this form of calculation is very simple and those bad options can be eliminated quite quickly. If White checks with those moves suggested by the red arrows, White is captured first but can't capture last in the sequence of trades. Thus giving the material advantage to Black. You won't have to calculate these variations too deeply to see that each red move is a blunder.

I've edited out that line  "No need to calculate ahead " from all the puzzle posts. Indeed, some calculation is required. However, let me point out that there are no positional moves in these puzzles that don't either check or capture or both. If they were considered, the number of variations to calculate would increase substantially. By limiting the variations to checks and captures should speed up your play significantly.

Mate in 17. This puzzle is done by White with 97.3 accuracy and Black with 92.7 accuracy. No blunders made in this puzzle. As usual, White must complete the puzzle using only checks and captures. No in-between moves allowed. Some calculation will be necessary along the way to choose the right move from multiple options. However, since the moves are limited to checks and captures your calculations won't need to go too deep.

Mate in 8. In this puzzle White achieves 100.0 accuracy and Black 96.6 accuracy. Only checks and captures allowed in the order given in post #1. On some moves, calculation is required to choose the best move between multiple options.

13 Moves. 96.1 accuracy for White and 91.8 for Black. Unfortunately, I couldn't take this puzzle all the way to mate with just checks and captures but the position is simplified leaving White with a Mate in 3.

Mate in 11. Last 3 moves don't use the same piece twice. Read post #1 before trying this puzzle.

Mate in 15. Only checks and captures allowed. Read post #1 first before attempting the puzzle.