Mate in 3: queen to b7 (b8)
c9-26348naming 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 b8, rook f7, knight c3, pawn a2 b2 g2 h2.
Black: king d7, rook h8, bishop d3, knight e7, pawn c5 e6 h6 a7 b7.
8 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 24.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 5 points of material (21 against 16; 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 d7.
It is White to move on move 24, with 42 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, e.
The White king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
24. Qxb7+ Kd8 25. Qxe7+ Kc8 26. Qc7#
Why it works
- Best move. queen to b7 is exactly what the engine plays (#2).
- Spot on — queen to e7 (#1).
- Precise: queen to c7 is the top choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kd8, then Qxe7+ and you win the knight.
Move by move
- 24. Qxb7+ — queen to b7 (capture) with check
- Kd8 — king to d8
- 25. Qxe7+ — queen to e7 (capture) with check
- Kc8 — king to c8
- 26. Qc7# — queen to c7 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Supported queen mate
The queen delivers mate face to face, protected by a friend.
The supported queen mate is the most common pattern of all: the queen lands next to the king and mates because a friendly piece or pawn protects her. The king is helpless — capturing is impossible, and the queen covers every neighboring square herself. Hunt for a protected square beside the enemy king: a knight, bishop or pawn eyeing it turns her invasion into mate. Verify one thing — that the square really is defended, or the king eats her.
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.
Absolute pin
A piece is pinned against its king — it cannot legally move.
An absolute pin freezes a piece on the line between its own king and your long-range attacker: moving it is simply illegal. The pattern is three units on one straight line — your bishop, rook or queen, an enemy piece, and the enemy king behind it. A pinned piece neither attacks nor defends anything: treat it as if it were off the board. Pile up on it, ideally with a pawn, because running away is against the rules.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #46.
SP-46 · ThroneScout — A knight starts on the edge (a/h) and the king sits centrally on d or e; the mirror twin stays in this family too.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on d1 and h1, the queen on c1.
The queenside rook already stands on d1, so castling long moves only the king, from e1 to c1.
The bishops stand on f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 916.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 75 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +19 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #46Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 012 · SP-46
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