We’ve been looking at developing a sense for when to initiate a decisive attack. One of the most important ideas is seeing that your opponent’s king can be forced into the open. You can do that in this position, but the “cost” is high. Can you figure it out all the way to the end?

Solution:

The hint should have helped you find 1.Qxh6+. How do you think of moves like this when you are playing and there are no hints? First of all, you are often told here to look at all checks and captures. 1.Qxh6+ qualifies as both! What do you look at from there? Well, you look for (drum roll) checks that keep this going and nudge the king forward toward your king. Then you should see 2.Ne6 is a discovered check that does precisely that. Here’s the way the game, Blackburne-Gifford 1874, went:

1.Qxh6+ Kxh6 2.Ne6+ Kh5 [Happily, Black was somewhat cooperative. He could have put up more, but futile resistance with 2...Nf4 3.Rxf4 fxe6 4.Rxf8+ Kg7 5.Rxd8 exd5 6.Bxd5 c6 7.Rg8+ Kf6 8.Bb3 and White is a rook up. Hey, if a combination does that rather than mate, that’s great, too!] 3.Be2+ Kh4 4.Rf4+ Nxf4 5.g3+ Kh3 6.Nexf4#