Forced Mate in 2: Rook and Bishop Helpers

Good afternoon friends!  This is Mrs Jessica E Prescott, aka BoundingOwl, with some chess puzzles for you.  These puzzles are checkmate in two moves, but they are forced--the first move is check!  The pattern we are looking at is how rooks and bishops work together.

bffs?!

 

If you were to add a bishop's powers to a rook's powers, what piece would you get?  The queen of course!  She is obviously the most powerful piece, so a rook+bishop combo must be very powerful, too.  Look for how they help each other take all the squares away from the black king.

...apple?

I'm going to do the first one for you.  The first thing I do is see where the black king could try to escape.  The first move is check, and sometimes a sacrifice!

1.

 

 

 

 

That first move was also a defensive skewer!  Did you see the secret battery that the queen and rook made?  Remember, your pieces like to work together.

2.  Your turn!  White to move.  The first move is check.  The second move is mate!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.  White to move.  Right now the king is trapped, but we still have to put him in check.

 

 

 

 

 

4.  Here's another way the rook and bishop can work together.  If the rook is already guarded by another piece, then he is free to guard the bishop.  Look for a queen sac to deflect the black rook!

 

 

 

 

5.  Where can the king move?  What if he is blocked by his own piece?  Is the bishop helping...not yet, right?

 

 

 

 

 

6.  White to move.  The rook is in the way.  Fortunately we have another one!  If you make only one check, though, then the knight will eat your fancy b2 bishop.  What's better than one check?

 

 

 

 

 

 

7.  White to move.  Time to get coordinated.  Where would the rook rather be?

 

 

 

 

 

Excellent work!  Did you start to recognize some patterns?

Remember Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

See you next week for more chess tactics.  Tip of the week: Try to solve these same puzzles again tomorrow and see if you can solve them faster!