Mate in 2: queen to g3 (c3·2)
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The tactical motive
Mate in 2: the first move creates an unstoppable threat, the second delivers mate.
Difficulty 1856 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
Black to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
Mate in two usually opens with a forcing move — a check, a capture or an unstoppable threat — that strips the king of squares or defenders, so the follow-up mate becomes unavoidable. Look for the first move that leaves the opponent only losing replies.
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 c5, pawn a3 h3 c4 d5.
Black: king h6, queen c3, bishop g6, pawn a6.
6 white and 4 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 42.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 13 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on g1, the black king on h6.
It is Black to move on move 42, with 35 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 1. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, e, f, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: c, d, h.
The Black king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
42... Qg3+ 43. Kf1 Bd3#
Why it works
- Great move! queen to g3 keeps the pressure (#1).
- Well found: bishop to d3 (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 2.
- If instead Kf1, then Bd3# and it is mate.
Move by move
- 42… Qg3+ — queen to g3 with check
- 43. Kf1 — king to f1
- Bd3# — bishop to d3 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Mate in 2
A forced checkmate in two moves.
Mate in two: your move, any reply, then the mating blow. Start with the most forcing first moves — checks and sacrifices that shrink the opponent's options to almost nothing. Against every single reply you must have a mate ready, so check them all without exception. The common failure is analyzing the pretty defense and forgetting the boring one.
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 013
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