Mate in 3: queen to e7 (e4)
c9-24338naming 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 e2, queen e4, rook d1 b6, bishop d4, knight g3, pawn c2 g2 c3 a4 h4 f5 c7.
Black: king c8, rook e7, bishop d5, pawn c4 a5 h5 b7.
13 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 30.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 20 points of material (32 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 e2, the black king on c8.
It is White to move on move 30, with 44 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b.
The White king has 6 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
30. Qxe7 Bf3+ 31. Ke3 Bxd1 32. Qd8#
Why it works
- Best move. queen to e7 is exactly what the engine plays (#2).
- king to e3 develops smoothly.
- Precise: queen to d8 is the top choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Bf3+, then Ke3 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 30. Qxe7 — queen to e7 (capture)
- Bf3+ — bishop to f3 with check
- 31. Ke3 — king to e3
- Bxd1 — bishop to d1 (capture)
- 32. Qd8# — queen to d8 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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #654.
SP-654 · BastionScout — King off-centre on c or f with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
The king starts on c1, the rooks on a1 and d1, the queen on e1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
The bishops stand on f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
The pawn on b2, c2 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 212.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 36 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +34 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
In 50 self-play games White scored 53.0% (95% CI 39.5–66.1%).
Explore position #654Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 013 · SP-654
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