Mate in 3: queen to h7 (e7·2)
li-08woynaming tag (square·N)Opens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Mate in 3: a forced sequence that ends in checkmate.
Difficulty 1827 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 c5, queen e7, bishop e4, pawn c2 b3 e3 e6.
Black: king g8, queen f1 a2, rook f2, pawn a5 g5 h6.
7 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 42.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 10 points of material (16 against 26; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on c5, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 42, with 32 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, g, h.
The White king has 5 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
42. Qh7+ Kf8 43. e7+ Ke8 44. Bc6#
Why it works
- Great move! queen to h7 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Well found: pawn to e7 (#1).
- Strong! bishop to c6 is the sharp choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kf8, then e7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 42. Qh7+ — queen to h7 with check
- Kf8 — king to f8
- 43. e7+ — pawn to e7 with check
- Ke8 — king to e8
- 44. Bc6# — bishop to c6 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.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 013
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