Mate in 3: queen to e6 (f5)
c9-13235naming 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 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 g1, queen f5, rook e1, bishop f2, pawn a2 g2 e3 f3 a4 h5 c7.
Black: king e8, rook d8 h8, bishop a7, pawn c3 f6 h7.
11 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 31.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 8 points of material (24 against 16; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g1, the black king on e8.
It is White to move on move 31, with 45 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, d — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
The White king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
31. Qe6+ Kf8 32. Qxf6+ Kg8 33. cxd8=Q#
Why it works
- Best move. queen to e6 is exactly what the engine plays (#2).
- Spot on — queen to f6 (#1).
- Precise: pawn to d8 is the top choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kf8, then Qxf6+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 31. Qe6+ — queen to e6 with check
- Kf8 — king to f8
- 32. Qxf6+ — queen to f6 (capture) with check
- Kg8 — king to g8
- 33. cxd8=Q# — pawn to d8 (capture) and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Promotion mate
The pawn promotes — and the new piece mates on the spot.
In a promotion mate the pawn takes its final step and the newborn piece mates on the spot. Sometimes the hero is a knight rather than a queen — it checks from the promotion square in a way no queen can. The sign: the enemy king lingers near the promotion square while your pieces already control its escape routes. When counting pawn races, always check whether the promotion itself is mate — that gains you a full tempo in the evaluation.
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.
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #684.
SP-684 · ThroneGuard — King on a central file (d/e) with both knights on inner files — the classic-type setup.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and h1, the queen on a1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
The bishops stand on b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- and f-pawns step aside.
The pawn on e2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 476.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 21 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +36 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #684Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 012 · SP-684
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