Mate in 3: queen to f1 (c1)
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The tactical motive
Mate in 3: a forced sequence that ends in checkmate.
Difficulty 1982 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
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 f4, queen d2, rook b2, bishop d7, pawn g2 a4 h4 e5 g5 b7.
Black: king g8, queen c1, rook c3, pawn d5 h5 e6 f7.
10 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 39.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 5 points of material (23 against 18; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on f4, the black king on g8.
It is Black to move on move 39, with 30 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: a, b, g.
The Black king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
39... Qf1+ 40. Qf2 Qc4+ 41. Qd4 Qxd4#
Why it works
- Great move! queen to f1 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Well found: queen to c4 (#1).
- Strong! queen to d4 is the sharp choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Qf2, then Qc4+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 39… Qf1+ — queen to f1 with check
- 40. Qf2 — queen to f2
- Qc4+ — queen to c4 with check
- 41. Qd4 — queen to d4
- Qxd4# — queen to d4 (capture) and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Ladder mate
Two heavy pieces climb line by line, cutting off every retreat.
The ladder mate uses two heavy pieces climbing rung by rung: one cuts the king off along a line, the other checks on the next line, driving him toward the edge. It is the classic two-rook technique — check, the king retreats one rank, the other rook checks, until mate on the last rank. The only danger is the king creeping close enough to attack one of your rooks. If it does, simply slide that rook to the far side of the same line.
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.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 014
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