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Day 631: 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. Winning blow: knight to c5 (b7·6)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
2. Winning blow: bishop to b7 (d5)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
3. Winning blow: pawn to e6 (f5·5)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
4. Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f5 (f2·2)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
5. Winning blow: rook to b1 (b3·2)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
6. Winning blow: queen to d6 (e6)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
7. Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c3 (e2·4)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
8. Attack on the uncastled king: rook to f8 (e8·2)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
9. Winning blow: rook to e3 (e2·2)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
10. Winning blow: queen to g7 (g6)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation

Core set

11. Winning blow: queen to g7 (g2·4)Shuffle Rating 1560Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
12. Winning blow: knight to e6 (g5·17)Shuffle Rating 1560Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
13. Winning blow: queen to d7 (a4·2)Shuffle Rating 1560Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
14. Winning blow: queen to g5 (h4·2)Shuffle Rating 1560Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
15. Winning blow: queen to c7 (b8·4)Shuffle Rating 1560Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
16. Mate in 2: bishop to g8 (f7)Shuffle Rating 1450Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
17. Mate in 2: rook to b1 (b8)Shuffle Rating 1495Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
18. Winning blow: rook to c7 (c4·5)Shuffle Rating 1470Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
19. Mate in 2: queen to e5 (e8)Shuffle Rating 1450Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
20. Winning blow: knight to b5 (d4·8)Shuffle Rating 1470Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
21. Mate in 2: queen to c5 (f2·2)Shuffle Rating 1450Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
22. Winning blow: knight to c5 (b3·13)Shuffle Rating 1470Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
23. Mate in 2: rook to g7 (c7)Shuffle Rating 1450Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
24. Winning blow: bishop to f5 (e6·2)Shuffle Rating 1470Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
25. Mate in 2: rook to g6 (g5)Shuffle Rating 1450Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation

Challenge

26. Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to e4 (b1·24)Shuffle Rating 1610Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
27. Mate in 3: rook to d8 (d7·3)Shuffle Rating 1680Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
28. Winning blow: bishop to f3 (d1·4)Shuffle Rating 1620Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation

Review

29. Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d4 (d3·5)Shuffle Rating 1280Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
30. Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b6 (d4·5)Shuffle Rating 1450Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation

Day complete — every puzzle solved. See you tomorrow!

Day 632 →