Mate in 3: bishop to c2 (d1·2)
c9-26350naming tag (square·N)The tactical motive
Chess960 twist: use the unusual starting setup of the pieces.
Mate in 3: a forced sequence that ends in checkmate.
Difficulty 1760 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
White to move — find the best continuation
Position on the board
White: king b1, queen c5, rook c8, bishop d1, pawn a2 b2 e2 h2.
Black: king e4, knight a5, pawn b4 e6 d7.
8 white and 5 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 36.
Solution & explanation
Main line
36. Bc2+ Kf4 37. Rg8 Nc6 38. Qg5#
Why it works
- Best move. bishop to c2 is exactly what the engine plays (#2).
- rook to g8 develops smoothly.
- Precise: queen to g5 is the top choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kf4, then Rg8 and you stay on top.
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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #344.
SP-344 · ThroneScout — The king starts on d or e while at least one knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on f1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: b2, h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 333.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 37 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +30 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #344Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 013 · SP-344
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