♟️ Puzzle Progression of the Week

[In this position black king is blocked by his f7 pawn, and f6 knight. White can force checkmate here. Moving the Queen to h6 defended by the rook, white checks the black king. Since h8 and f8 are also covered by the queen, black must move to g8. When white plays Qh8, it is checkmate, since the back rank is covered by the queen, and f7 is blocked by black's own f7 pawn. ]

[Another nice checkmating attack. Notice a possible escape route for the black king is f1-e1-d2. But the white rook on e1 is potent--it covers the e8 sqaure if the white knight on e2 moves. Again, the attack initiatives by the queen giving a check where it is defended by its own piece. Qh2+ forces the king to f1. Qh1+ forces the knight on e2 back to g1. Critically, the king no longer can move to e1, so when black plays Nh2 it is checkmate. One thing in common between these first two puzzles is the attacking queen is bullying the defending king with a "contact" check supported by another piece.]

[This is a bit different--now a supported rook bullies the king with contact checks. Rxc2+ forces Kb1, then with Rb2+, the rook is supported by a pawn, the king can't move back to the c file because the queen still covers it so again there is only one legal move, the king must move to the corner, a1. Now that the king is trapped in the corner, black plays Rxa2+ and if Kb1, Qc2# so white must play Kxa2, then Qc2 forces the king back to a1, and Qb2 is mate.]

[This is a mix of clearance, interference to allow the attacking queen to deliver mate. Notice first that while it may seem natural to checkmate on h2 with Rh2+, there are 3 defenders, the Bf4, the queen backing up the bishop on d6, and the king fending for himself. However, a different clearance sacrifice works. Rg3+ and if fxg3, then the pawn on g3 now interferes with defense of h2 and Qh2#, so instead of fxg3 white can try Bxg3, but now the black queen gets to bully the king into the corner with Qh3+ Kg1 and Qh1#]

[This time we have a mix of motifs. The queen bullying the king in the corner and double attacks. First, hxg4 threatens both the bishop of f3 and to get the queen involved in the attack. After Qh2+ then the king against must go to f1, finally Qe5 creates another nasty double attack. The queen attacks the bishop on c5 and clears the way for the rook to skewer the king and queen on h1. White cannot stop both threats.]