Mate in 3: bishop to d4 (a1)
c9-26815naming 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 d1, queen b3, rook b1 g1, bishop a1 e2, knight f2 d3, pawn a2 d2 h2 e3 f4.
Black: king h8, queen b8, rook d4, bishop a8, knight h4, pawn g5 a6 b6 h6.
13 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 32.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 12 points of material (36 against 24; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d1, the black king on h8.
It is White to move on move 32, with 49 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): c — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, g.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
32. Bxd4+ Qe5 33. Bxe5+ Kh7 34. Qf7#
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to d4 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Spot on — bishop to e5 (#1).
- Precise: queen to f7 is the top choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Qe5, then Bxe5+ and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 32. Bxd4+ — bishop to d4 (capture) with check
- Qe5 — queen to e5
- 33. Bxe5+ — bishop to e5 (capture) with check
- Kh7 — king to h7
- 34. Qf7# — queen to f7 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 #577.
SP-577 · BastionScout — A c- or f-file king with at least one knight out on the edge.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on b1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
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: d2, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 283.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 89 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +14 centipawns for White (depth 49, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #577Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 012 · SP-577
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