Mate in 3: rook to d8 (d6)
c9-24518naming 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 f2, rook d3 d6, bishop c4, knight c6, pawn g2 h4.
Black: king f8, rook b6 h8, knight c7, pawn a4 e4 h5 f6 g7.
7 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 32.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 18 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on f2, the black king on f8.
It is White to move on move 32, with 41 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 2 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, c, d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, e, f.
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
32. Rd8+ Ne8 33. Rxe8+ Kxe8 34. Rd8#
Why it works
- Great move! rook to d8 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Spot on — rook to e8 (#1).
- Strong! rook to d8 is the sharp choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Ne8, then Rxe8+ and you win the knight.
Move by move
- 32. Rd8+ — rook to d8 with check
- Ne8 — knight to e8
- 33. Rxe8+ — rook to e8 (capture) with check
- Kxe8 — king to e8 (capture)
- 34. Rd8# — rook to d8 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.
Sacrifice attack
Give up material to unleash a decisive attack.
A sacrificial attack gives up material on purpose to rip the king's shelter open and launch a decisive assault. The sac is sound when you get concrete assets in return: open lines to the king, tempi, pieces ready to pour in. The signs: a poorly sheltered king, your forces aimed at its home, defenders stranded far away. The iron rule is to calculate, not hope — once the material is gone, there is no way back.
Win the pinned piece
The pinned piece cannot run — attack it again and win it.
A pinned piece cannot flee, which means you can win it outright by attacking it one more time. Count attackers against defenders: if you outnumber them, the piece is yours. The best extra attacker is a pawn, since it costs less than anything it might capture. Do not rush the capture — build up the pressure first, then harvest.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #410.
SP-410 · RampartGuard — A b- or g-file king and two knights on inner files (b–g).
The king starts on g1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on b1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
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 741.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 95 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +9 centipawns for White (depth 49, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #410Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 012 · SP-410
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