15 MAY 2025

Mate in 2

by Pieter ten Cate

L'Alfiere di Re, 1923

White’s B+N battery glares at Black’s king—but the knight up front is stuck, pinned by the queen on c6, which in turn is pinned by WRc8. It’s a tense standoff, like a coiled spring ready to snap open into a complex mechanism!

 

But which move will flick the switch? It's crucial to realise that, despite being lined up with the black king—and even hinting at 1...f3 2.Ne3#, a potential pin-mate—WRh4 isn’t really pulling its weight on the fourth rank. Could it be relocated to a more active square? Indeed—1.Rh3!, threatening 2.Qd3#. Black now has four ways to parry the threat, but each unpins the d5 knight, unlocking a unique battery mate:

 

1...Nce4 2.Nxf6#

1...Nfe4 2.Nxc3#

1...e4 2.Nb6#

1...f3 2.Ne3#

 

Theme: Quadruple unpinning!