Mate in 3: queen to f5 (e5)
c9-25334naming 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 e5, rook d1 b3, bishop a1 b5, knight h1 d4, pawn a2 d2 f2 g2 h2.
Black: king c8, queen b4, rook b7 d8, bishop a8 f8, knight h8, pawn a5 b6 c7 f7 g7 h7.
13 white and 13 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 15.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 2 points of material (36 against 34; 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 c8.
It is White to move on move 15, with 62 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, 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
15. Qf5+ Rd7 16. Qxd7+ Kb8 17. Nc6#
Why it works
- Great move! queen to f5 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Spot on — queen to d7 (#1).
- Precise: knight to c6 is the top choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Rd7, then Qxd7+ and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 15. Qf5+ — queen to f5 with check
- Rd7 — rook to d7
- 16. Qxd7+ — queen to d7 (capture) with check
- Kb8 — king to b8
- 17. Nc6# — knight to c6 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Knight mate
The knight lands the killing blow from its unique angle.
In a knight mate the final blow comes from the knight — the only piece whose check can never be blocked. That makes it lethal against a cramped king: only a king move or capturing the knight itself can help. The sign: the squares around the king are occupied or covered, and there is a hop from which the knight checks while staying untouchable. Bring the knight over early — it is slower than the long-range pieces, but its strike cannot be parried.
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 #914.
SP-914 · BastionScout — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, and a knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and d1, the queen on e1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 39.
The engine's main line opens with Ng3, bringing the knight out to g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 13 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +41 centipawns for White (depth 41, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #914Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 012 · SP-914
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