Chess Online

I found this easy because you know it's a puzzle so Ba1 is too obvious, but I think it would be easy to miss in game play and Ba1 would be rather tempting. I'd be interestd to know what move the fizzixisfun did make.

If you think there is another solution, click on the another solution button on the puzzle.

The rook must be very distracting to draw attention away from 1...Nxf6.

But there is an important question here: when should you attack, and when should you cash in for material gain? Often, as here, the positions of the pieces can make the decision for you, even without calculating variations.

Black's queen is in position to attack, and both of black's bishops are aimed that way as well. White's only defensive piece is the pinned bishop on e3, the light squares around the king are very weak, while both rooks and the queen cannot help out quickly. With those facts in mind, Black can count on good chances to overwhelm White's king, and should start looking for hecks and other forcing moves.

Now, reverse the positions of the queens: WQ on c4, BQ on f6. White's queen is better placed for defense, Black's queen is not threatening anything, and Black has no decent checks. It takes no calculation to realize this is the time to grab the rook and go a piece ahead instead of wasting time searching for a mate.

These little shortcuts for assessing the position save a lot of time and effort in finding the proper plan. Of course, matters are not always as clear-cut as this example, but as with anything practice develops skill.

damn. i would never miss this in a game at this point in my career.