Chess960 puzzles: 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.

3608 puzzles

Back-rank mate in 3 on a8

Shuffle Rating 602

Back-rank mate in 3 on g1

Shuffle Rating 606

Back-rank mate in 3 on f2

Shuffle Rating 738

Mate in 3: queen to a1

Shuffle Rating 776

Back-rank mate in 3 on f2 (b6)

Shuffle Rating 778

Mate in 3: queen to b1

Shuffle Rating 786

Back-rank mate in 3 on f2 (b6·2)

Shuffle Rating 833

Mate in 3: pawn to g3

Shuffle Rating 845

Back-rank mate in 3 on c2

Shuffle Rating 867

Back-rank mate in 3 on a8 (e4)

Shuffle Rating 874

Back-rank mate in 3 on f2 (f6)

Shuffle Rating 885

Mate in 3: pin on c3

Shuffle Rating 887

Back-rank mate in 3 on h3

Shuffle Rating 890

Mate in 3: rook to f8

Shuffle Rating 890

Mate in 3: rook to e8

Shuffle Rating 892

Back-rank mate in 3 on f2 (b6·3)

Shuffle Rating 893

Mate in 3: rook to c8

Shuffle Rating 904

Mate in 3: fork on f7

Shuffle Rating 915

Mate in 3: rook to f8 (f7)

Shuffle Rating 921

Mate in 3: queen to h5

Shuffle Rating 921

Mate in 3: rook to e8 (e3)

Shuffle Rating 938

Back-rank mate in 3 on f7

Shuffle Rating 938

Mate in 3: bishop to a6

Shuffle Rating 938

Mate in 3: rook to e1

Shuffle Rating 939

Mates