Mate in 3: rook to d4
c9-09148Opens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Chess960 twist: use the unusual starting setup of the pieces.
Mate in 3: a forced sequence that ends in checkmate.
Difficulty 1630 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
White to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
In Chess960 the pieces start on unfamiliar squares, so tactics appear earlier and from unusual angles. Do not trust classical patterns — read the actual lines of the bishops, the rooks and the queen from where they really stand in this position.
In a mate in three every move must be forcing; the defender should never get a free tempo. Find the check or threat that herds the king, calculate the single defence to each, and confirm the net closes on the third move.
General method: before you move, list the forcing candidates — every check, every capture, every direct threat — and calculate those first. The solution to a tactic is almost always among them.
Position on the board
White: king c1, rook b4 e7, bishop b1 g1, knight c3, pawn b2 d2 h2 f6.
Black: king d6, rook a8 f8, bishop g2 g3, knight d8 h8, pawn a5 c6 g6 h7.
10 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 19.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 3 points of material (23 against 26; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on c1, the black king on d6.
It is White to move on move 19, with 54 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, c, g.
The White king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
19. Rd4+ Kc5 20. Na4+ Kb5 21. Bd3#
Why it works
- Great move! rook to d4 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Spot on — knight to a4 (#1).
- Precise: bishop to d3 is the top choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kc5, then Na4+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 19. Rd4+ — rook to d4 with check
- Kc5 — king to c5
- 20. Na4+ — knight to a4 with check
- Kb5 — king to b5
- 21. Bd3# — bishop to d3 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Mate in 3
A forced checkmate in three moves.
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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #828.
SP-828 · BastionScout — King off-centre on c or f with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
The king starts on c1, the rooks on a1 and f1, the queen on e1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
The bishops stand on b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: g2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 140.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 13 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +41 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #828Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 012 · SP-828
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