Mate in 2: queen to c7 (b8·2)
c9-27854naming 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 2: the first move creates an unstoppable threat, the second delivers mate.
Difficulty 1320 ShuffleRating — club-player level.
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.
Mate in two usually opens with a forcing move — a check, a capture or an unstoppable threat — that strips the king of squares or defenders, so the follow-up mate becomes unavoidable. Look for the first move that leaves the opponent only losing replies.
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 b2, queen b8, rook h1, bishop d2 f3, knight g1 c3, pawn f2 g2 h2 e3 d6.
Black: king d7, rook h8, bishop g6, knight e7, pawn a4 f5 a6 c6 g7 h7.
12 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 23.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 14 points of material (31 against 17; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b2, the black king on d7.
It is White to move on move 23, with 45 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, c.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 6 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
23. Qc7+ Ke6 24. Qxe7#
Why it works
- Great move! queen to c7 keeps the pressure (#1).
- Well found: queen to e7 (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 2.
- If instead Ke6, then Qxe7# and it is mate.
Move by move
- 23. Qc7+ — queen to c7 with check
- Ke6 — king to e6
- 24. Qxe7# — queen to e7 (capture) 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 2
A forced checkmate in two moves.
Mate in two: your move, any reply, then the mating blow. Start with the most forcing first moves — checks and sacrifices that shrink the opponent's options to almost nothing. Against every single reply you must have a mate ready, so check them all without exception. The common failure is analyzing the pretty defense and forgetting the boring one.
Skewer
A line attack forces the valuable piece to move, exposing the one behind it.
A skewer is a pin turned inside out: the valuable piece stands in front and something cheaper hides behind it. The big piece must step aside, and you collect the one that was sheltering in its shadow. Scan for the enemy king or queen sharing a file, rank or diagonal with another enemy piece. The deadliest version comes with check — the king moves, the rook behind it dies.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #698.
SP-698 · BastionGuard — A c- or f-file king and two knights on inner files (b–g).
The king starts on c1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on b1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
The bishops stand on e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 453.
The engine's main line opens with c3.
Morozov Balance Index: 65 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +22 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #698Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 010 · SP-698
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