Mate in 3: pawn to e8
c9-09187Opens 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 e1, bishop f6, knight d4 c7, pawn a2 h2 g3 e7.
Black: king g8, bishop d5, pawn g4 h5 d6.
8 white and 5 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 41.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 7 points of material (13 against 6; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on e1, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 41, with 32 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, c, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d.
The White king has 5 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
41. e8=Q+ Kh7 42. Qh8+ Kg6 43. Qg7#
Why it works
- Best move. pawn to e8 is exactly what the engine plays (#2).
- Spot on — queen to h8 (#1).
- Precise: queen to g7 is the top choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kh7, then Qh8+ and you win the pawn.
Move by move
- 41. e8=Q+ — pawn to e8 with check
- Kh7 — king to h7
- 42. Qh8+ — queen to h8 with check
- Kg6 — king to g6
- 43. Qg7# — queen to g7 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Supported queen mate
The queen delivers mate face to face, protected by a friend.
The supported queen mate is the most common pattern of all: the queen lands next to the king and mates because a friendly piece or pawn protects her. The king is helpless — capturing is impossible, and the queen covers every neighboring square herself. Hunt for a protected square beside the enemy king: a knight, bishop or pawn eyeing it turns her invasion into mate. Verify one thing — that the square really is defended, or the king eats her.
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.
Promotion race
Both sides push passers — win the race by a tempo.
A promotion race is a sprint between two passed pawns: both sides push toward the last rank, and victory goes to whoever queens first or queens with check. You will recognize it when both players have far-advanced passers that neither king can catch. Count the tempi literally, move by move, all the way to promotion. The classic mistake is spending a tempo on a "useful" move — in a race, almost any non-pawn move loses.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #349.
SP-349 · BastionScout — A c- or f-file king with at least one knight out on the edge.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on e1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
The bishops stand on d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, g2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 328.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 4 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +50 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #349Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 012 · SP-349
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