Mate in 3: queen to c8 (c2)
c9-27334naming 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.
A fork made possible by the Chess960 piece placement.
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.
A set-up fork needs one preparing move before the fork lands — a check that drives the king onto the forking square, or a capture that lines the targets up. Find the preparation first, then the fork it makes possible.
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 c2, rook c1 g1, knight b6, pawn e2 a3 f3 h3 d4 g5.
Black: king e8, rook g8, knight e6, pawn h5 a6 d6 g6 e7 f7.
11 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 31.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 14 points of material (28 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 e8.
It is White to move on move 31, with 41 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, c — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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
31. Qc8+ Nd8 32. Qxd8+ Kxd8 33. Rc8#
Why it works
- Great move! queen to c8 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Spot on — queen to d8 (#1).
- Strong! rook to c8 is the sharp choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Nd8, then Qxd8+ and you win the knight.
Move by move
- 31. Qc8+ — queen to c8 with check
- Nd8 — knight to d8
- 32. Qxd8+ — queen to d8 (capture) with check
- Kxd8 — king to d8 (capture)
- 33. Rc8# — rook to c8 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.
Setup fork
The random setup allows a fork that classical chess never sees.
A setup fork is a double attack that exists only because of the unusual starting squares — in classical chess these targets never stand side by side. Look for pairs of undefended pieces on your opponent's back rank and for squares from which a knight or pawn hits both at once. Such forks usually appear within the first moves, before the pieces disperse. In every new position, note right away which starting pieces are defended by no one.
Sacrifice attack
Give up material to unleash a decisive attack.
A sacrificial attack gives up material on purpose to rip the king's shelter open and launch a decisive assault. The sac is sound when you get concrete assets in return: open lines to the king, tempi, pieces ready to pour in. The signs: a poorly sheltered king, your forces aimed at its home, defenders stranded far away. The iron rule is to calculate, not hope — once the material is gone, there is no way back.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #387.
SP-387 · BastionGuard — King shifted to c or f, knights kept clear of the edges — 168 positions in all.
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 BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 755.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 83 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +16 centipawns for White (depth 49, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #387Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 012 · SP-387
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