Mate in 3: pawn to d7 (d6·2)
c9-28099naming 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 d5, rook g7, bishop e2, knight c3 c5, pawn a2 d6.
Black: king e8, rook h2 b4, pawn h5 a6 e7.
7 white and 6 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 34.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 3 points of material (16 against 13; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d5, the black king on e8.
It is White to move on move 34, with 39 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 2 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, c, f, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: e, h.
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
34. d7+ Kd8 35. Rg8+ Kc7 36. d8=Q#
Why it works
- Best move. pawn to d7 is exactly what the engine plays (#2).
- Spot on — rook to g8 (#1).
- Precise: pawn to d8 is the top choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kd8, then Rg8+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 34. d7+ — pawn to d7 with check
- Kd8 — king to d8
- 35. Rg8+ — rook to g8 with check
- Kc7 — king to c7
- 36. d8=Q# — pawn to d8 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.
Promotion mate
The pawn promotes — and the new piece mates on the spot.
In a promotion mate the pawn takes its final step and the newborn piece mates on the spot. Sometimes the hero is a knight rather than a queen — it checks from the promotion square in a way no queen can. The sign: the enemy king lingers near the promotion square while your pieces already control its escape routes. When counting pawn races, always check whether the promotion itself is mate — that gains you a full tempo in the evaluation.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #644.
SP-644 · ThroneScout — The king starts on d or e while at least one knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on a1 and f1, the queen on g1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
The bishops stand on b1 and c1; their long diagonals reach h7 and h6 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
The pawn on e2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 222.
The engine's main line opens with g4.
Morozov Balance Index: 83 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +16 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #644Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 012 · SP-644
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