Mate in 3: knight to a2
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The tactical motive
Mate in 3: a forced sequence that ends in checkmate.
Difficulty 2073 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
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 c1, rook e7, knight c6, pawn c2 b7.
Black: king f2, rook b5, knight c3, pawn a5 d6.
5 white and 5 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 47.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 10 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on c1, the black king on f2.
It is Black to move on move 47, with 26 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 2 pawns, Black 2. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e, f, g, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: b, c.
The Black king has 5 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
47... Na2+ 48. Kd2 Rd5+ 49. Nd4 Rxd4#
Why it works
- Great move! knight to a2 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Well found: rook to d5 (#1).
- Strong! rook to d4 is the sharp choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kd2, then Rd5+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 47… Na2+ — knight to a2 with check
- 48. Kd2 — king to d2
- Rd5+ — rook to d5 with check
- 49. Nd4 — knight to d4
- Rxd4# — rook to d4 (capture) 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.
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.
Endgame tactic
Tactics live in the endgame too — strike while material is scarce.
Tactics do not retire when the queens come off: forks, pins and double attacks live on in the endgame. With so little material left, every tactical loss is almost always decisive. The signs are the usual ones — undefended pieces, king and piece on one line, a pawn about to promote. Even in a "technical" ending, scan for a shot before every move, both yours and your opponent's.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 015
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