Queen sacrifice for a back-rank mate

White gives the queen to pull Black’s only active defender away from the back rank. The recapture opens e8 for an immediate rook mate.

Lesson

White to move. Main line: 1. Qxf7+ Rxf7 2. Re8#

Qxf7+ is a forcing sacrifice, not a speculative attack. The queen captures the pawn beside the king and checks from f7. The bishop on c4 protects the queen, so the king cannot capture it; Black’s rook is the only piece that can remove the check.

After ...Rxf7, the rook has been deflected from f8. Re8# then reaches the back rank: the white rook controls e8, f8, g8 and h8, while Black’s own pawns on g7 and h7 close the remaining escape squares.

The calculation is short because every move is a check. When an enemy rook is both a defender and the only possible recapturing piece, look for a sacrifice that forces it away from the rank or file it must guard.