Mate in 3: deflection on f7
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The tactical motive
Deflection: force the defender to abandon its post.
Mate in 3: a forced sequence that ends in checkmate.
Difficulty 1479 ShuffleRating — club-player level.
White to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
Deflection drags a defender away from its duty. Identify the enemy piece that guards a key square or mate, then force it to move — with a check, a capture or a threat it must answer — and strike where it no longer defends.
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, queen f2, rook f1 e2, bishop g2, pawn a2 b3 d3 g3 h3 c4 d5.
Black: king g8, queen c7, rook e7 e8, bishop c8, pawn c5 d6 a7 b7 f7 g7 h7.
12 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 24.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 29 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on h2, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 24, with 37 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 7. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: f.
The White king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
24. Qxf7+ Rxf7 25. Rxe8+ Rf8 26. Rfxf8#
Why it works
- Great move! queen to f7 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Well found: rook to e8 (#1).
- Precise: rook to f8 is the top choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Rxf7, then Rxe8+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 24. Qxf7+ — queen to f7 (capture) with check
- Rxf7 — rook to f7 (capture)
- 25. Rxe8+ — rook to e8 (capture) with check
- Rf8 — rook to f8
- 26. Rfxf8# — rook to f8 (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.
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
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.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 011
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