Mate in 3: queen to h8 (g7·2)
c9-22432naming 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 g2, queen g7, rook b1 g1, bishop d3, pawn e2 h2 c3 f3 f6.
Black: king e8, queen e5, rook e6 h8, bishop d7, pawn b5 d5 g6 e7 h7.
10 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 32.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 27 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on g2, the black king on e8.
It is White to move on move 32, with 40 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, d, 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
32. Qxh8+ Kf7 33. Qg7+ Ke8 34. Qg8#
Why it works
- Great move! queen to h8 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Spot on — queen to g7 (#1).
- Precise: queen to g8 is the top choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kf7, then Qg7+ and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 32. Qxh8+ — queen to h8 (capture) with check
- Kf7 — king to f7
- 33. Qg7+ — queen to g7 with check
- Ke8 — king to e8
- 34. Qg8# — queen to g8 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.
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 #500.
SP-500 · BastionGuard — A c- or f-file king and two knights on inner files (b–g).
The king starts on f1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on d1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
The bishops stand on b1 and c1; their long diagonals reach h7 and h6 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
The pawn on f2 is defended by the king alone — the classic soft spot of the standard setup.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 558.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 96 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +8 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #500Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 012 · SP-500
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