I am a beginner, which I guess is why I'm confused about this puzzle.
The answer was to sacrifice a queen to block the knight and force a check mate. However I'm confused as to why black cannot take with the queen as h5 seems unprotected. Wouldn't this foil the mate?
No, it won't foil the mate. ..gxh5 .Nh6# or ..Qxh5 .Ne7#. Of course black can choose to capture the dangerous knight but then he looses his queen!
The position at the start of the puzzle is actually only +4.35 for White. The engine is not seeing a forced mate.
The position at the start of the puzzle is actually only +4.35 for White. The engine is not seeing a forced mate.
There is a forced mate though. About 35 moves from here 
Ahh! So black takes with the queen: Qxh6, which will mean that knight to e7 is mate, right?
I am a beginner, which I guess is why I'm confused about this puzzle.
The answer was to sacrifice a queen to block the knight and force a check mate. However I'm confused as to why black cannot take with the queen as h5 seems unprotected. Wouldn't this foil the mate?