White to play and mate in two.
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25. Rd6+ exd6 26. Rxd6#
Epaulette mate. White gives up the rook on d6 with check, and Black has to take with the pawn from e7. Then the other rook takes on d6, and now it's mate. The knight on e4 protects the rook, the pawn on c4 covers b5 and d5, and b6 is on the same rank as the rook. The king's own pieces on c5 and c7 sit like epaulettes on either side of it.
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The puzzle comes from Lichess. The position is from a real game.
Updated November 8, 2026