Mate in 3: queen to e8 (c8·2)
c9-28429naming 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 f2, queen c8, rook d1, knight f3 e6, pawn a2 e3 d5.
Black: king h8, queen e8, bishop b4, pawn b6 h6 e7 g7.
8 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 29.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 7 points of material (23 against 16; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on f2, the black king on h8.
It is White to move on move 29, with 49 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, g, h.
The White king has 5 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
29. Qxe8+ Kh7 30. Neg5+ hxg5 31. Rh1#
Why it works
- Great move! queen to e8 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Spot on — knight to g5 (#1).
- Precise: rook to h1 is the top choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kh7, then Neg5+ and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 29. Qxe8+ — queen to e8 (capture) with check
- Kh7 — king to h7
- 30. Neg5+ — knight to g5 with check
- hxg5 — pawn to g5 (capture)
- 31. Rh1# — rook to h1 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.
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 #200.
SP-200 · BastionGuard — A c- or f-file king and two knights on inner files (b–g).
The king starts on f1, the rooks on d1 and h1, the queen on a1.
The queenside rook already stands on d1, so castling long moves only the king, from f1 to c1.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
The pawn on g2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 669.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 13 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +41 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #200Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 012 · SP-200
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