Mate in 3: rook to e1 (d1)
c9-22125naming 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 c6, rook d1, bishop b7, knight c1 f1, pawn c2 h2 g4 f5.
Black: king e5, queen d8, bishop d4, knight f4 b6, pawn g5 e7 f7 h7.
10 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 23.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 5 points of material (27 against 22; 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 e5.
It is White to move on move 23, with 40 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, b, d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: e.
The White king has 1 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
23. Re1+ Be3 24. Rxe3+ Kd4 25. Re4#
Why it works
- Great move! rook to e1 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Spot on — rook to e3 (#1).
- Precise: rook to e4 is the top choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Be3, then Rxe3+ and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 23. Re1+ — rook to e1 with check
- Be3 — bishop to e3
- 24. Rxe3+ — rook to e3 (capture) with check
- Kd4 — king to d4
- 25. Re4# — rook to e4 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.
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 #859.
SP-859 · RampartGuard — The king starts out on a wing file, b or g, with neither knight in a corner.
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and d1, the queen on g1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
The pawn on b2, c2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 97.
The engine's main line opens with a4.
Morozov Balance Index: 51 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +26 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #859Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 012 · SP-859
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