Day 380: Mate in 3
Target rating: 1094
Lesson of the day
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.
Warm-up
1. Winning blow: knight to f6 (h5·4)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
2. Winning blow: queen to d1 (d2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
3. Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c4 (d2·9)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
4. Winning blow: rook to c7 (c8)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
5. Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to g5 (h4·5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
6. Winning blow: knight to e5 (d3·5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
7. Winning blow: pawn to h5 (g4·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
8. Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to c6 (d5·3)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
9. Winning blow: bishop to f3 (h1)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
10. Winning blow: queen to b4 (d2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
Core set
11. Mate in 3: pawn to c7Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
12. Winning blow: queen to e8 (a4·3)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
13. Winning blow: queen to b7 (b8·5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
14. Winning blow: knight to d6 (c4·7)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
15. Winning blow: queen to c5 (a5·3)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
16. Winning blow: queen to e5 (e4·5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
17. Mate in 1: queen to f2 (d4)Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
18. Winning blow: knight to c4 (b6·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
19. Mate in 2: bishop to h7 (d3)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
20. Attack on the uncastled king: rook to h1 (g1·12)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
21. Winning blow: queen to c7 (c2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
22. Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to g3 (g2·3)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
23. Winning blow: knight to e6 (c5·11)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
24. Winning blow: queen to a3 (f8)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
25. Mate in 2: queen to f7 (f3·4)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
Challenge
Review
Day complete — every puzzle solved. See you tomorrow!
Day 381 →