Mate in 3: queen to e1 (a1)
c9-28221naming 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 1760 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 e2, queen a1, bishop f3, knight b3 f7, pawn b2 c2 d2 h2 e3.
Black: king h4, queen d6, bishop h8, knight c4 f8, pawn c6 b7 d7 e7 h7.
10 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 18.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 23 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on e2, the black king on h4.
It is White to move on move 18, with 40 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, f, g — 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
18. Qe1+ Kh3 19. Ng5+ Kxh2 20. Qf2#
Why it works
- Great move! queen to e1 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Spot on — knight to g5 (#1).
- Precise: queen to f2 is the top choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kh3, then Ng5+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 18. Qe1+ — queen to e1 with check
- Kh3 — king to h3
- 19. Ng5+ — knight to g5 with check
- Kxh2 — king to h2 (capture)
- 20. Qf2# — queen to f2 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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #143.
SP-143 · ThroneScout — King in the middle of the rank, with a knight already committed to the corner.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on c1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 816.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 78 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +18 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #143Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 013 · SP-143
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