Mate in 3: pawn to g6 (h5)
c9-24115naming 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 h3, rook h1 d6, bishop a1 g4, pawn a2 b3 f3 c4 h5.
Black: king h7, queen a8, rook f4 c8, bishop f6, knight c5 e6, pawn e5 b6 g6 a7 f7.
11 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 33.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 3 points of material (30 against 33; 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 h7.
It is White to move on move 33, with 35 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): d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: e, g.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
33. hxg6+ Kg7 34. Qh7+ Kf8 35. Qxf7#
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to g6 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Spot on — queen to h7 (#1).
- Strong! queen to f7 is the sharp choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kg7, then Qh7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 33. hxg6+ — pawn to g6 (capture) with check
- Kg7 — king to g7
- 34. Qh7+ — queen to h7 with check
- Kf8 — king to f8
- 35. Qxf7# — queen to f7 (capture) 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.
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 #18.
SP-18 · RampartGuard — King on the wing (b/g) with both knights on inner files.
The king starts on g1, the rooks on e1 and h1, the queen on c1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 935.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 3 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +52 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #18Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 012 · SP-18
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