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Day 414: Mate in 3

Lesson of the day

Mate in three is a forced staircase: each of your moves narrows the opponent's choices, and the third one ends the game. Look for the start among checks and sacrifices — quiet first moves are rare in mating problems, but deliciously sneaky. Keep the tree in your head: every defense gets its own branch. Do not stop calculating after move two — see the final mating picture with your own eyes.

Warm-up

1. Attack on the uncastled king: rook to c5 (d5)Shuffle Rating 920Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
2. Winning blow: rook to h1 (f1·2)Shuffle Rating 920Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
3. Winning blow: queen to d1 (c1·2)Shuffle Rating 920Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
4. Winning blow: pawn to c3 (b2·12)Shuffle Rating 920Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
5. Winning blow: pawn to g6 (f5·4)Shuffle Rating 920Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
6. Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e5 (f3·14)Shuffle Rating 920Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
7. Winning blow: queen to c1 (e1)Shuffle Rating 920Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
8. Winning blow: king to g2 (g1·3)Shuffle Rating 920Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
9. Winning blow: king to c2 (b1·2)Shuffle Rating 920Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
10. Winning blow: pawn to c6 (b5·5)Shuffle Rating 920Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation

Core set

11. Mate in 3: rook to f4Shuffle Rating 1312Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
12. Mate in 3: rook to b3Shuffle Rating 1326Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
13. Mate in 3: knight to f6Shuffle Rating 1327Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
14. Back-rank mate in 3 on f7 (f5)Shuffle Rating 1347Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
15. Mate in 3: rook to f8 (d8)Shuffle Rating 1372Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
16. Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to f3 (e2·16)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
17. Winning blow: bishop to e4 (g2)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
18. Winning blow: bishop to a6 (d3)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
19. Winning blow: bishop to f4 (d2·2)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
20. Winning blow: knight to f8 (e6·5)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
21. Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d5 (c4·115)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
22. Attack on the uncastled king: knight to g4 (e3·12)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
23. Winning blow: rook to a8 (a7·3)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
24. Winning blow: queen to e6 (b3·2)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
25. Winning blow: pawn to f4 (e3·9)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation

Challenge

26. Winning blow: queen to c2 (a2)Shuffle Rating 1340Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
27. Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to h6 (h5)Shuffle Rating 1390Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
28. Mate in 2: bishop to b8Shuffle Rating 1440Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation

Review

29. Winning blow: bishop to f8 (g7·3)Shuffle Rating 1280Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
30. Winning blow: rook to a1 (e1·2)Shuffle Rating 1110Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation

Day complete — every puzzle solved. See you tomorrow!

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