Mate in 3: rook to e8 (e2·3)
c9-24320naming 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 c2, queen f4, rook h1 e2, bishop d2, pawn a2 b2 g2 h2.
Black: king a8, queen b5, bishop a3, pawn b6 c6 a7 h7.
9 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 25.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 10 points of material (26 against 16; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on c2, the black king on a8.
It is White to move on move 25, with 54 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): d, e, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c.
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
25. Re8+ Kb7 26. Qb8+ Ka6 27. Qc8#
Why it works
- Great move! rook to e8 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Well found: queen to b8 (#1).
- Strong! queen to c8 is the sharp choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kb7, then Qb8+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 25. Re8+ — rook to e8 with check
- Kb7 — king to b7
- 26. Qb8+ — queen to b8 with check
- Ka6 — king to a6
- 27. Qc8# — queen to c8 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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #714.
SP-714 · RampartGuard — King on the wing (b/g) with both knights on inner files.
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on c1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 437.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 51 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +26 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #714Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 012 · SP-714
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