Mate in 3: knight to g5 (e6·4)
c9-28166naming 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 g1, rook e1 h1 d8, bishop c3, knight e6, pawn b2 f2 g2 b3 b4 h4.
Black: king h7, rook g7, bishop b5, pawn f4 h5 a6 g6.
12 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 32.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 15 points of material (27 against 12; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g1, the black king on h7.
It is White to move on move 32, with 42 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a.
The White king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
32. Ng5+ Kh6 33. Rh8+ Rh7 34. Rxh7#
Why it works
- Best move. knight to g5 is exactly what the engine plays (#2).
- Spot on — rook to h8 (#1).
- Precise: rook to h7 is the top choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kh6, then Rh8+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 32. Ng5+ — knight to g5 with check
- Kh6 — king to h6
- 33. Rh8+ — rook to h8 with check
- Rh7 — rook to h7
- 34. Rxh7# — rook to h7 (capture) and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Hook mate
Rook, knight and pawn form a hook the king cannot escape.
The hook mate is a three-piece construction: the rook mates, the knight guards the rook, and a pawn guards the knight. The rook strikes the king at close range along a line, the knight stands diagonally nearby stealing the escape squares, and the pawn anchors the chain. The pattern usually appears near the edge after a rook invasion. Build it link by link — first plant the knight under pawn protection, then crash in with the rook.
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 #22.
SP-22 · RampartScout — A knight in the corner and the king out on the wing (b/g); like every family, it is closed under mirror twins.
The king starts on g1, the rooks on e1 and h1, the queen on b1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
The bishops stand on c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 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 RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 934.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 31 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +32 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #22Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 012 · SP-22
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads