Mate in 3: knight to g3 (e2·2)
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The tactical motive
Mate in 3: a forced sequence that ends in checkmate.
Difficulty 1951 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 h1, queen f1, rook a1, bishop c1 g2, knight f8, pawn f2 a3 g3 h3 b4.
Black: king g8, queen h5, rook c2, knight e2 f3, pawn h6 a7 b7 f7 g7.
11 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 28.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 3 points of material (28 against 25; 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 g8.
It is Black to move on move 28, with 45 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, d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
White 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
28... Nxg3+ 29. fxg3 Qxh3+ 30. Bxh3 Rh2#
Why it works
- Great move! knight to g3 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Well found: queen to h3 (#1).
- Strong! rook to h2 is the sharp choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead fxg3, then Qxh3+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 28… Nxg3+ — knight to g3 (capture) with check
- 29. fxg3 — pawn to g3 (capture)
- Qxh3+ — queen to h3 (capture) with check
- 30. Bxh3 — bishop to h3 (capture)
- Rh2# — rook to h2 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Arabian mate
Rook and knight — the oldest mate: the rook strikes next to the cornered king.
The Arabian mate is the oldest named pattern: the king is driven into the corner and the rook mates right next to it, guarded by a knight. The geometry is exact: king on h8, rook striking from h7, knight on f6 both protecting the rook and covering g8. The knight is irreplaceable — only it can guard the rook at point-blank range and hold the escape square at once. Look for the pattern when your knight is anchored two steps from the enemy corner.
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).
Pack 014
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