Mate in 3: queen to g6 (g5·3)
c9-25996naming 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 e1, queen g5, rook c1 f1, bishop g8, knight b3, pawn a2 b2 e2 d4 h6 d7.
Black: king b6, rook b8 f8, pawn f3 b5 d5 a7.
12 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 29.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 17 points of material (31 against 14; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on e1, the black king on b6.
It is White to move on move 29, with 53 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: f.
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
29. Qg6+ Rf6 30. Qxf6+ Kb7 31. Bxd5#
Why it works
- Best move. queen to g6 is exactly what the engine plays (#2).
- Spot on — queen to f6 (#1).
- Precise: bishop to d5 is the top choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Rf6, then Qxf6+ and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 29. Qg6+ — queen to g6 with check
- Rf6 — rook to f6
- 30. Qxf6+ — queen to f6 (capture) with check
- Kb7 — king to b7
- 31. Bxd5# — bishop to d5 (capture) 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.
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 #189.
SP-189 · ThroneScout — Centre-file king, rim knight: 204 of the 960 positions share this pattern.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on h1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
The bishops stand on d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
The pawn on d2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 776.
The engine's main line opens with Nab3, bringing the knight out to b3.
Morozov Balance Index: 61 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +23 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #189Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 012 · SP-189
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