Mate in 3: rook to e1 (e8·2)
li-0CZKQnaming 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 1924 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 g1, queen b7, rook e1, bishop c4, knight f3, pawn a2 b2 f2 g2 h2 c3 d3.
Black: king g8, queen f4, rook e8, bishop g4 d6, pawn d4 c5 a7 f7 g7 h7.
12 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 20.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (27 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 g1, the black king on g8.
It is Black to move on move 20, with 45 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: b.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The Black king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
20... Rxe1+ 21. Nxe1 Qxh2+ 22. Kf1 Qh1#
Why it works
- Great move! rook to e1 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Well found: queen to h2 (#1).
- Strong! queen to h1 is the sharp choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Nxe1, then Qxh2+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 20… Rxe1+ — rook to e1 (capture) with check
- 21. Nxe1 — knight to e1 (capture)
- Qxh2+ — queen to h2 (capture) with check
- 22. Kf1 — king to f1
- Qh1# — queen to h1 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.
Skewer
A line attack forces the valuable piece to move, exposing the one behind it.
A skewer is a pin turned inside out: the valuable piece stands in front and something cheaper hides behind it. The big piece must step aside, and you collect the one that was sheltering in its shadow. Scan for the enemy king or queen sharing a file, rank or diagonal with another enemy piece. The deadliest version comes with check — the king moves, the rook behind it dies.
Relative pin
A piece shields a more valuable one behind it — moving it loses material.
In a relative pin the piece shields not its king but something valuable behind it, usually the queen. Moving is legal but costly, because the piece behind falls. Look for three units on one line: your long-range piece, a cheaper enemy piece, and an expensive one hiding behind. Beware the classic trap — a relatively pinned piece can still move with check or a bigger threat, so verify before you cash in.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 014
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