Mate in 3: rook to g8 (g1)
c9-24201naming 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 f3, rook g1, bishop h5, knight d5, pawn e3 c4 f4.
Black: king d8, rook c2, knight c6, pawn c5 e5 b6 b7.
7 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 36.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 2 points of material (14 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 f3, the black king on d8.
It is White to move on move 36, with 30 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, d, g, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b.
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
36. Rg8+ Kd7 37. Bg4+ Kd6 38. Rg6#
Why it works
- Great move! rook to g8 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Spot on — bishop to g4 (#1).
- Strong! rook to g6 is the sharp choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kd7, then Bg4+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 36. Rg8+ — rook to g8 with check
- Kd7 — king to d7
- 37. Bg4+ — bishop to g4 with check
- Kd6 — king to d6
- 38. Rg6# — rook to g6 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.
Endgame tactic
Tactics live in the endgame too — strike while material is scarce.
Tactics do not retire when the queens come off: forks, pins and double attacks live on in the endgame. With so little material left, every tactical loss is almost always decisive. The signs are the usual ones — undefended pieces, king and piece on one line, a pawn about to promote. Even in a "technical" ending, scan for a shot before every move, both yours and your opponent's.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #184.
SP-184 · BastionScout — A knight on the a- or h-file, king on c or f — the mirror twin lands here as well.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on h1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
The pawn on e2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 781.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 28 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +33 centipawns for White (depth 49, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #184Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 012 · SP-184
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