Mate in 3: queen to e5 (e7)
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The tactical motive
Mate in 3: a forced sequence that ends in checkmate.
Difficulty 2083 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 g2, queen e7, pawn a2 h3 d4.
Black: king f4, queen a4, pawn d5 f5 h5 c6 g6 a7 b7.
5 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 54.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 4 points of material (12 against 16; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g2, the black king on f4.
It is White to move on move 54, with 29 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 7. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, c, f, g.
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
54. Qe5+ Kg5 55. h4+ Kh6 56. Qh8#
Why it works
- Great move! queen to e5 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Well found: pawn to h4 (#1).
- Strong! queen to h8 is the sharp choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Kg5, then h4+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 54. Qe5+ — queen to e5 with check
- Kg5 — king to g5
- 55. h4+ — pawn to h4 with check
- Kh6 — king to h6
- 56. Qh8# — queen to h8 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.
Absolute pin
A piece is pinned against its king — it cannot legally move.
An absolute pin freezes a piece on the line between its own king and your long-range attacker: moving it is simply illegal. The pattern is three units on one straight line — your bishop, rook or queen, an enemy piece, and the enemy king behind it. A pinned piece neither attacks nor defends anything: treat it as if it were off the board. Pile up on it, ideally with a pawn, because running away is against the rules.
Queen endgame
Queens on an open board — precision above all.
Queen endgames are treacherous: the queen reaches everywhere, and one slip turns a win into perpetual check. The signs are few pawns, exposed kings, and checks hanging in the air. Tuck your king away early, and use your own checks to bring the queen closer or push your passer with tempo. The typical mistake is grabbing pawns while leaving your king exposed to endless checks.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 015
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