Mate in 3: rook to g7 (d7)
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The tactical motive
Mate in 3: a forced sequence that ends in checkmate.
Difficulty 1727 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
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 h2, rook d7, knight h4, pawn g2 g3.
Black: king g5, rook a1, knight b4, pawn a2 f6 h6.
5 white and 6 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 48.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (10 against 11; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on h2, the black king on g5.
It is White to move on move 48, with 19 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 2 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, c, d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, f, h.
The White king has 1 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
48. Rg7+ Kh5 49. g4+ Kxh4 50. g3#
Why it works
- Great move! rook to g7 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Well found: pawn to g4 (#1).
- Strong! pawn to g3 is the sharp choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kh5, then g4+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 48. Rg7+ — rook to g7 with check
- Kh5 — king to h5
- 49. g4+ — pawn to g4 with check
- Kxh4 — king to h4 (capture)
- 50. g3# — pawn to g3 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Pawn mate
The humblest soldier delivers the final blow.
The pawn mate lets the humblest soldier land the final blow. It happens to a king stuck among its own and enemy pieces: the pawn strikes diagonally from one square away and there is nowhere left to run. The sign: the squares around the king are covered or occupied, and your pawn stands one step from striking distance. Never write pawns out of your attack — their blows are the cheapest and therefore the most humiliating.
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.
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 013
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