Exercise #22

Solution

1. Rd7! Qxd7 2. Qd2+, followed by Qxd7.

After 1. Rd7, the black queen was pinned to the king. White would thus capture the queen on the next move.

Note that 1. Qd2+ Kc5 doesn’t work because now black’s king defends the queen.

Instead, the move 1. Rd7 draws the black queen further away from the black king, making the skewer effective on the next move, Qd2+

Also note the interesting variation: 1. Rd7 Rd8?1 2. Rxd8! Qxd8 3. Qd2+, followed by Qxd8.