Mate in 3: queen to c7 (d7)
c9-24445naming 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 c1, queen d7, rook a1 e1, bishop g1 e4, pawn b2 d2 h2 a3 c3 e3 f4.
Black: king a7, queen f6, rook a8 f8, bishop c7 g8, pawn a4 b5 c5 h6 e7 g7.
13 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 24.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (32 against 31; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on c1, the black king on a7.
It is White to move on move 24, with 46 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 6. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: g.
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
24. Qxc7+ Ka6 25. Bb7+ Ka7 26. Bc8#
Why it works
- Great move! queen to c7 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Well found: bishop to b7 (#1).
- Precise: bishop to c8 is the top choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Ka6, then Bb7+ and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 24. Qxc7+ — queen to c7 (capture) with check
- Ka6 — king to a6
- 25. Bb7+ — bishop to b7 with check
- Ka7 — king to a7
- 26. Bc8# — bishop to c8 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Discovered mate
A piece steps aside — and the one behind it delivers mate.
In a discovered mate the piece that moves is not the one that mates — the long-range piece behind it delivers the blow. The moving piece is completely free: it can land anywhere, ideally stealing the king's last squares or guarding key points. Look for your rook, bishop or queen lined up with the enemy king, with exactly one of your own pieces in between. When choosing the unveiling move, remember its second job — shutting the king's escape door.
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 #940.
SP-940 · 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 c1, the rooks on a1 and d1, the queen on f1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
The bishops stand on b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- and f-pawns step aside.
The pawn on b2 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 28.
The engine's main line opens with a4.
Morozov Balance Index: 59 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +24 centipawns for White (depth 49, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #940Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 012 · SP-940
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