Mate in 3: queen to f8 (g8·5)
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The tactical motive
Mate in 3: a forced sequence that ends in checkmate.
Difficulty 2278 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
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 h1, queen g8, rook d8, bishop g6, pawn g2 h3.
Black: king e7, queen b6, rook f2, knight d6, pawn d5 e5 f6 b7.
6 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 45.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (19 against 21; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on h1, the black king on e7.
It is White to move on move 45, with 29 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 2 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, c — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, d, e, 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
45. Qf8+ Ke6 46. Rxd6+ Qxd6 47. Qf7#
Why it works
- Great move! queen to f8 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Spot on — rook to d6 (#1).
- Strong! queen to f7 is the sharp choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Ke6, then Rxd6+ and you win the knight.
Move by move
- 45. Qf8+ — queen to f8 with check
- Ke6 — king to e6
- 46. Rxd6+ — rook to d6 (capture) with check
- Qxd6 — queen to d6 (capture)
- 47. Qf7# — queen to f7 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Epaulette mate
The king's own pieces flank it like epaulettes — mate comes head-on.
In the epaulette mate the king stands between two of its own pieces — most often rooks — like an officer wearing epaulettes. The side squares are blocked by friends, there is no retreat, and the queen mates head-on from directly in front of the king. The sign: a king on the edge rank with both neighboring squares on that rank occupied by its own pieces. Remember, extra defenders crowding the king can be deadlier than no defenders at all.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
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).
Pack 015
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