Mate in 3: rook to h1 (h4)
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The tactical motive
Mate in 3: a forced sequence that ends in checkmate.
Difficulty 1195 ShuffleRating — club-player level.
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 d1, rook f7, bishop d6, pawn c3 g5 e7.
Black: king e3, rook h4, knight d3, pawn c4 g6 h7.
6 white and 6 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 52.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 11 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on d1, the black king on e3.
It is Black to move on move 52, with 20 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, b, d, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: e.
The Black king has 1 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
52... Rh1+ 53. Rf1 Rxf1+ 54. Kc2 Rc1#
Why it works
- Great move! rook to h1 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Well found: rook to f1 (#1).
- Strong! rook to c1 is the sharp choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Rf1, then Rxf1+ and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 52… Rh1+ — rook to h1 with check
- 53. Rf1 — rook to f1
- Rxf1+ — rook to f1 (capture) with check
- 54. Kc2 — king to c2
- Rc1# — rook to c1 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Hook mate
Rook, knight and pawn form a hook the king cannot escape.
The hook mate is a three-piece construction: the rook mates, the knight guards the rook, and a pawn guards the knight. The rook strikes the king at close range along a line, the knight stands diagonally nearby stealing the escape squares, and the pawn anchors the chain. The pattern usually appears near the edge after a rook invasion. Build it link by link — first plant the knight under pawn protection, then crash in with the rook.
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 007
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