Mate in 3: rook to g7 (g1)
c9-16038naming 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 b1, queen d5, rook g1, bishop a5, pawn b2 h2 e3 d4.
Black: king e7, rook f6 b8, knight g7, pawn d6 a7 b7.
8 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 33.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 5 points of material (21 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 b1, the black king on e7.
It is White to move on move 33, with 46 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): c, f, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a.
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
33. Rxg7+ Ke8 34. Qg8+ Rf8 35. Qe6#
Why it works
- Best move. rook to g7 is exactly what the engine plays (#2).
- Spot on — queen to g8 (#1).
- Strong! queen to e6 is the sharp choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Ke8, then Qg8+ and you win the knight.
Move by move
- 33. Rxg7+ — rook to g7 (capture) with check
- Ke8 — king to e8
- 34. Qg8+ — queen to g8 with check
- Rf8 — rook to f8
- 35. Qe6# — queen to e6 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 #633.
SP-633 · BastionScout — Off-centre king plus a rim knight (a/h): 168 positions carry this shape.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on a1 and g1, the queen on f1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
The bishops stand on d1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a5 once the e- and d-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 233.
The engine's main line opens with g4.
Morozov Balance Index: 16 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +39 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #633Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 012 · SP-633
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