Mate in 3: double attack on f8
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The tactical motive
Double attack: one move creates two threats at once.
Mate in 3: a forced sequence that ends in checkmate.
Difficulty 2112 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
White to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
A double attack threatens two things at once so the opponent cannot parry both. Look for a single move — often a queen or knight — that creates two separate threats, such as a check plus an attack on a loose piece.
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 f5, rook c1 e1, knight g6, pawn a2 b2 f2 e6.
Black: king h7, queen c7, rook a8 e8, bishop e7, pawn c2 d2 g5 a6 h6 g7.
9 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 31.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (26 against 28; 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 31, with 41 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 6. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: c, d, g, h.
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
31. Nf8+ Kg8 32. Qh7+ Kxf8 33. Qh8#
Why it works
- Great move! knight to f8 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Well found: queen to h7 (#1).
- Strong! queen to h8 is the sharp choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kg8, then Qh7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 31. Nf8+ — knight to f8 with check
- Kg8 — king to g8
- 32. Qh7+ — queen to h7 with check
- Kxf8 — king to f8 (capture)
- 33. Qh8# — queen to h8 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.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
Sacrifice attack
Give up material to unleash a decisive attack.
A sacrificial attack gives up material on purpose to rip the king's shelter open and launch a decisive assault. The sac is sound when you get concrete assets in return: open lines to the king, tempi, pieces ready to pour in. The signs: a poorly sheltered king, your forces aimed at its home, defenders stranded far away. The iron rule is to calculate, not hope — once the material is gone, there is no way back.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 015
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