Mate in 3: bishop to c6
c9-11193Opens 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 f1, rook d1 g5, bishop b4 b5, knight e1 f4, pawn a2 f2 h2 b3 e3 h3 d4 e6.
Black: king e8, queen c6, rook d8 g8, knight h4 f7, pawn a5 f5 g6 h7.
15 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 20.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (30 against 29; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on f1, the black king on e8.
It is White to move on move 20, with 45 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 8 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: g.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
20. Bxc6+ Rd7 21. exd7+ Kd8 22. Ne6#
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to c6 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Well found: pawn to d7 (#1).
- Strong! knight to e6 is the sharp choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Rd7, then exd7+ and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 20. Bxc6+ — bishop to c6 (capture) with check
- Rd7 — rook to d7
- 21. exd7+ — pawn to d7 (capture) with check
- Kd8 — king to d8
- 22. Ne6# — knight to e6 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Knight mate
The knight lands the killing blow from its unique angle.
In a knight mate the final blow comes from the knight — the only piece whose check can never be blocked. That makes it lethal against a cramped king: only a king move or capturing the knight itself can help. The sign: the squares around the king are occupied or covered, and there is a hop from which the knight checks while staying untouchable. Bring the knight over early — it is slower than the long-range pieces, but its strike cannot be parried.
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.
Win the pinned piece
The pinned piece cannot run — attack it again and win it.
A pinned piece cannot flee, which means you can win it outright by attacking it one more time. Count attackers against defenders: if you outnumber them, the piece is yours. The best extra attacker is a pawn, since it costs less than anything it might capture. Do not rush the capture — build up the pressure first, then harvest.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #581.
SP-581 · BastionScout — King shifted to c or f, with a knight committed to the corner from move one.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on b1 and g1, the queen on a1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
The bishops stand on c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 282.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 80 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +17 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #581Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 012 · SP-581
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