Mate in 3: pawn to g3
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The tactical motive
Mate in 3: a forced sequence that ends in checkmate.
Difficulty 845 ShuffleRating — for beginners taking their first steps in Chess960 tactics.
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 h2, rook b8.
Black: king f2, knight f4, pawn g4.
2 white and 3 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 66.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (5 against 4; 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 f2.
It is Black to move on move 66, with 14 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 0 pawns, Black 1. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, b, c, d, e, f, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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
66... g3+ 67. Kh1 g2+ 68. Kh2 g1=Q#
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to g3 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Well found: pawn to g2 (#1).
- Strong! pawn to g1 is the sharp choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kh1, then g2+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 66… g3+ — pawn to g3 with check
- 67. Kh1 — king to h1
- g2+ — pawn to g2 with check
- 68. Kh2 — king to h2
- g1=Q# — pawn to g1 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Supported queen mate
The queen delivers mate face to face, protected by a friend.
The supported queen mate is the most common pattern of all: the queen lands next to the king and mates because a friendly piece or pawn protects her. The king is helpless — capturing is impossible, and the queen covers every neighboring square herself. Hunt for a protected square beside the enemy king: a knight, bishop or pawn eyeing it turns her invasion into mate. Verify one thing — that the square really is defended, or the king eats her.
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.
Passed pawn
Nothing can stop the passer — escort it to the last rank.
A passed pawn has no enemy pawns in front of it or on the neighboring files: only pieces can stop it. Check who can blockade the pawn or catch it with the king — if nobody can, the pawn is worth a whole piece. Push the passer with your pieces supporting it, and put your rook behind it. The beginner's mistake is shoving the pawn forward unprotected, straight into a capture.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 004
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