Mate in 3: deflection on g4 (f3)
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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 2346 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
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 g1, queen f3, rook a1 e1, bishop h6, pawn a2 b2 f2 g2 h2.
Black: king g8, queen d7, rook a8 e8, bishop d6 c8, pawn d4 c6 f6 a7 c7 f7 h7.
10 white and 13 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 18.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 5 points of material (27 against 32; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g1, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 18, with 48 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 7. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, d.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
18. Qg4+ Qxg4 19. Rxe8+ Bf8 20. Rxf8#
Why it works
- Great move! queen to g4 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Well found: rook to e8 (#1).
- Strong! rook to f8 is the sharp choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Qxg4, then Rxe8+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 18. Qg4+ — queen to g4 with check
- Qxg4 — queen to g4 (capture)
- 19. Rxe8+ — rook to e8 (capture) with check
- Bf8 — bishop to f8
- 20. Rxf8# — 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).
Pack 015
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