Checkmate Puzzle 68

             Mate in 2
Play as White, White to move.
Guseinov G, 2421 – Fernandez Romero E, 2383; 21 Aug 2000
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Puzzle 68 solution at the bottom.
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 Checkmate Puzzle 67 Solution

1. Rxf8++ Kxf8 2. Qf7#
Black moved the knight on c5 to attack the White queen… Fow White, you may seek a way to move away the queen from the b3-square… but there is another way – to mate and win in 2. If you move the White f7-rook left or down, you will deliver the discovered check… and you will lose the queen. The way out in this position is a double check with sacrifice. (Note: The double check cannot be met by interposing or by capturing the attacker because there are 2 attackers on the scene.) To mate in 2, the White f7-rook is sacrificed on f8 with double check. Being under double check, the Black king has to take the rook on f8 as the only legal answer. Then White moves the queen on f7 to engage mate in 2.
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 Checkmate Puzzle 68 Solution

1. Rxe6+ fxe6 2. f7#
In the initial position, the Black king has no where to move. The left White rook can attack the king from e7 but this way leads to nowhere. There must be another way to go… Pay attention to the modest White pawn on f6. To mate in 2, the right White rook first moves on e6 (being sacrificed) to capture the pawn and check. After this, Black has to accept the sacrifice and take the rook as the only answer. Then the White f6-pawn moves on f7 to mate. White has sacrificed the rook to unblock the f6-pawn to move it on and mate.

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