Mate in 3: queen to g7 (g5·3)
li-0LZZvnaming 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 1822 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
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 f2, queen g5, knight h5, pawn e3 g3 f4 a6.
Black: king f7, queen h1, bishop b8, knight e2, pawn c4 d5 f5 e6 a7.
7 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 42.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 4 points of material (16 against 20; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on f2, the black king on f7.
It is White to move on move 42, with 15 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, d.
The White king has 1 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
42. Qg7+ Ke8 43. Nf6+ Kd8 44. Qd7#
Why it works
- Great move! queen to g7 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Well found: knight to f6 (#1).
- Strong! queen to d7 is the sharp choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Ke8, then Nf6+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 42. Qg7+ — queen to g7 with check
- Ke8 — king to e8
- 43. Nf6+ — knight to f6 with check
- Kd8 — king to d8
- 44. Qd7# — queen to d7 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Supported queen mate
The queen delivers mate face to face, protected by a friend.
The supported queen mate is the most common pattern of all: the queen lands next to the king and mates because a friendly piece or pawn protects her. The king is helpless — capturing is impossible, and the queen covers every neighboring square herself. Hunt for a protected square beside the enemy king: a knight, bishop or pawn eyeing it turns her invasion into mate. Verify one thing — that the square really is defended, or the king eats her.
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 013
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