Mate in 3: queen to d7 (d2·2)
c9-28493naming 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, queen d2, rook f1 d8, bishop h3 h6, pawn h2 f3 g3 e4.
Black: king f7, rook a8, bishop a2, knight b2, pawn a4 b5 f5 c6 g6 h7.
10 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 33.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 12 points of material (29 against 17; 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 f7.
It is White to move on move 33, with 52 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, b, c.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
33. Qd7+ Kf6 34. e5+ Kxe5 35. Bg7#
Why it works
- Best move. queen to d7 is exactly what the engine plays (#2).
- Spot on — pawn to e5 (#1).
- Precise: bishop to g7 is the top choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kf6, then e5+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 33. Qd7+ — queen to d7 with check
- Kf6 — king to f6
- 34. e5+ — pawn to e5 with check
- Kxe5 — king to e5 (capture)
- 35. Bg7# — bishop to g7 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 #311.
SP-311 · ThroneScout — King in the middle of the rank, with a knight already committed to the corner.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on d1 and f1, the queen on b1.
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: h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 354.
The engine's main line opens with Nf3, bringing the knight out to f3.
Morozov Balance Index: 83 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +16 centipawns for White (depth 49, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #311Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 013 · SP-311
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