Mate in 3: rook to e6 (e1·2)
c9-23820naming 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 1760 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 f1, queen g2, rook e1 d2, bishop f3 c7, knight b1, pawn a2 c2 b3 d3 f5.
Black: king h7, rook e6, bishop c6, pawn h4 a5 b6 d6.
12 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 30.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 21 points of material (33 against 12; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on f1, the black king on h7.
It is White to move on move 30, with 45 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: h.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
30. Rxe6 h3 31. Rh6+ Kxh6 32. Qg6#
Why it works
- Best move. rook to e6 is exactly what the engine plays (#2).
- Spot on — rook to h6 (#1).
- Precise: queen to g6 is the top choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead h3, then Rh6+ and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 30. Rxe6 — rook to e6 (capture)
- h3 — pawn to h3
- 31. Rh6+ — rook to h6 with check
- Kxh6 — king to h6 (capture)
- 32. Qg6# — queen to g6 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Supported queen mate
The queen delivers mate face to face, protected by a friend.
The supported queen mate is the most common pattern of all: the queen lands next to the king and mates because a friendly piece or pawn protects her. The king is helpless — capturing is impossible, and the queen covers every neighboring square herself. Hunt for a protected square beside the enemy king: a knight, bishop or pawn eyeing it turns her invasion into mate. Verify one thing — that the square really is defended, or the king eats her.
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.
Relative pin
A piece shields a more valuable one behind it — moving it loses material.
In a relative pin the piece shields not its king but something valuable behind it, usually the queen. Moving is legal but costly, because the piece behind falls. Look for three units on one line: your long-range piece, a cheaper enemy piece, and an expensive one hiding behind. Beware the classic trap — a relatively pinned piece can still move with check or a bigger threat, so verify before you cash in.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #81.
SP-81 · BastionGuard — King shifted to c or f, knights kept clear of the edges — 168 positions in all.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on e1 and g1, the queen on h1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
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 875.
The engine's main line opens with g4.
Morozov Balance Index: 24 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +35 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #81Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 013 · SP-81
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