Mate in 3: knight to f6 (d5·2)
c9-12014naming tag (square·N)Opens 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 1980 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 h3, rook c7, bishop h4, knight d5, pawn a4 f5 b6.
Black: king g8, rook b8, pawn e4 a5 g5 b7.
7 white and 6 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 42.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 5 points of material (14 against 9; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on h3, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 42, with 28 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: e, g.
The White king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
42. Nf6+ Kf8 43. Bxg5 Rd8 44. Bh6#
Why it works
- Best move. knight to f6 is exactly what the engine plays (#2).
- Spot on — bishop to g5 (#1).
- Precise: bishop to h6 is the top choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kf8, then Bxg5 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 42. Nf6+ — knight to f6 with check
- Kf8 — king to f8
- 43. Bxg5 — bishop to g5 (capture)
- Rd8 — rook to d8
- 44. Bh6# — bishop to h6 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.
Endgame tactic
Tactics live in the endgame too — strike while material is scarce.
Tactics do not retire when the queens come off: forks, pins and double attacks live on in the endgame. With so little material left, every tactical loss is almost always decisive. The signs are the usual ones — undefended pieces, king and piece on one line, a pawn about to promote. Even in a "technical" ending, scan for a shot before every move, both yours and your opponent's.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #154.
SP-154 · RampartScout — A knight in the corner and the king out on the wing (b/g); like every family, it is closed under mirror twins.
The king starts on g1, the rooks on b1 and h1, the queen on d1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
The bishops stand on e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 805.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 89 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +14 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #154Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 014 · SP-154
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