Mate in 3: rook to g2 (g8)
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The tactical motive
Mate in 3: a forced sequence that ends in checkmate.
Difficulty 1847 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
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, queen b6, rook e1 g1, pawn a2 b2 f2 g2 h3.
Black: king h8, queen f3, rook h5 g8, pawn e4 d5 f6 b7 h7.
9 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 28.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 24 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 h8.
It is Black to move on move 28, with 37 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: a, g.
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
28... Rxg2+ 29. Rxg2 Qxh3+ 30. Kg1 Qh1#
Why it works
- Great move! rook to g2 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Well found: queen to h3 (#1).
- Strong! queen to h1 is the sharp choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Rxg2, then Qxh3+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 28… Rxg2+ — rook to g2 (capture) with check
- 29. Rxg2 — rook to g2 (capture)
- Qxh3+ — queen to h3 (capture) with check
- 30. Kg1 — king to g1
- Qh1# — queen to h1 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.
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.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 013
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