Mate in 3: bishop to a6 (d3)
c9-28389naming 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 c1, queen f6, rook a1, bishop d2 d3, pawn f2 h2 a3 b4 g4 d5.
Black: king c8, rook b2, bishop c7, pawn e4 b6 a7 g7 h7.
11 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 31.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 13 points of material (26 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 c1, the black king on c8.
It is White to move on move 31, with 46 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: e.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
31. Ba6+ Kd7 32. Qe6+ Kd8 33. Bg5#
Why it works
- Best move. bishop to a6 is exactly what the engine plays (#2).
- Spot on — queen to e6 (#1).
- Precise: bishop to g5 is the top choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kd7, then Qe6+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 31. Ba6+ — bishop to a6 with check
- Kd7 — king to d7
- 32. Qe6+ — queen to e6 with check
- Kd8 — king to d8
- 33. Bg5# — bishop to g5 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 #932.
SP-932 · ThroneScout — The king starts on d or e while at least one knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on a1 and e1, the queen on g1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
The bishops stand on b1 and c1; their long diagonals reach h7 and h6 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 30.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 34 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +31 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #932Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 012 · SP-932
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