Mate in 3: rook to h3
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The tactical motive
Mate in 3: a forced sequence that ends in checkmate.
Difficulty 1181 ShuffleRating — club-player level.
Black to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
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 h4, rook d6 a7, pawn a2 h3 e4 f4.
Black: king g7, rook c3 g3, pawn b6 f7 h7.
7 white and 6 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 34.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (14 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 h4, the black king on g7.
It is Black to move on move 34, with 27 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: a, e.
The Black king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
34... Rxh3+ 35. Kg5 Rcg3+ 36. Kf5 Rh5#
Why it works
- Great move! rook to h3 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Well found: rook to g3 (#1).
- Strong! rook to h5 is the sharp choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kg5, then Rcg3+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 34… Rxh3+ — rook to h3 (capture) with check
- 35. Kg5 — king to g5
- Rcg3+ — rook to g3 with check
- 36. Kf5 — king to f5
- Rh5# — rook to h5 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.
Rook endgame
The most common endgame — activity decides everything.
The rook endgame is the most common of all: rooks and pawns on the board. Its first law is activity — a rook behind a passed pawn beats a rook passively babysitting one. The sign of a correct plan is that your rook is attacking something, not guarding something. The typical error is locking your rook into defense: it is often better to give up a pawn and keep your rook and king active.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 007
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