Mate in 3: queen to e7 (f7·4)
c9-25212naming 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 f7, rook a5, pawn e2 e3 g3 b4 c4.
Black: king c7, queen h2, rook c8 g8, knight f2, pawn g4 c5 h5 e7.
8 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 26.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 7 points of material (19 against 26; 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 c7.
It is White to move on move 26, with 33 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, d, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: h.
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
26. Qxe7+ Kb6 27. Qa7+ Kc6 28. Ra6#
Why it works
- Best move. queen to e7 is exactly what the engine plays (#2).
- Spot on — queen to a7 (#1).
- Precise: rook to a6 is the top choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kb6, then Qa7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 26. Qxe7+ — queen to e7 (capture) with check
- Kb6 — king to b6
- 27. Qa7+ — queen to a7 with check
- Kc6 — king to c6
- 28. Ra6# — rook to a6 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Ladder mate
Two heavy pieces climb line by line, cutting off every retreat.
The ladder mate uses two heavy pieces climbing rung by rung: one cuts the king off along a line, the other checks on the next line, driving him toward the edge. It is the classic two-rook technique — check, the king retreats one rank, the other rook checks, until mate on the last rank. The only danger is the king creeping close enough to attack one of your rooks. If it does, simply slide that rook to the far side of the same line.
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.
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 #675.
SP-675 · ThroneGuard — Both knights start on inner files (b–g) while the king sits centrally on d or e — one of 204 positions filed here.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on b1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: f2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 467.
The engine's main line opens with g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 97 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +6 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #675Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 012 · SP-675
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