Mate in 3: queen to g7 (h8·3)
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The tactical motive
Mate in 3: a forced sequence that ends in checkmate.
Difficulty 2181 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
White 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 b1, queen h8, rook h1 b7, bishop f5, pawn a2 e3 d4 g5.
Black: king f8, queen d6, rook b8 e8, knight g8, pawn d5 c6 a7 f7.
9 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 32.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 26 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on b1, the black king on f8.
It is White to move on move 32, with 45 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, f.
The White king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
32. Qg7+ Kxg7 33. Rh7+ Kf8 34. Rxf7#
Why it works
- Great move! queen to g7 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Well found: rook to h7 (#1).
- Strong! rook to f7 is the sharp choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kxg7, then Rh7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 32. Qg7+ — queen to g7 with check
- Kxg7 — king to g7 (capture)
- 33. Rh7+ — rook to h7 with check
- Kf8 — king to f8
- 34. Rxf7# — rook to f7 (capture) and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Epaulette mate
The king's own pieces flank it like epaulettes — mate comes head-on.
In the epaulette mate the king stands between two of its own pieces — most often rooks — like an officer wearing epaulettes. The side squares are blocked by friends, there is no retreat, and the queen mates head-on from directly in front of the king. The sign: a king on the edge rank with both neighboring squares on that rank occupied by its own pieces. Remember, extra defenders crowding the king can be deadlier than no defenders at all.
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.
Counter-strike
Don't defend — answer the threat with a bigger one.
The counter-strike: instead of defending against the threat, you answer with a bigger threat of your own. While your opponent grabs a pawn, you deliver mate — the arithmetic favors you. Look for a counter when direct defenses fail: do you have a check, an attack on the queen, a mating threat? The beginner's error is meeting every threat with a reflexive defense without checking the counterattacking resources first.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 015
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