Day 414: Mate in 3
Target rating: 1132
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. Attack on the uncastled king: rook to c5 (d5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
2. Winning blow: rook to h1 (f1·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
3. Winning blow: queen to d1 (c1·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
4. Winning blow: pawn to c3 (b2·12)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
5. Winning blow: pawn to g6 (f5·4)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
6. Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e5 (f3·14)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
7. Winning blow: queen to c1 (e1)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
8. Winning blow: king to g2 (g1·3)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
9. Winning blow: king to c2 (b1·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
10. Winning blow: pawn to c6 (b5·5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
Core set
11. Mate in 3: rook to f4Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
12. Mate in 3: rook to b3Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
13. Mate in 3: knight to f6Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
14. Back-rank mate in 3 on f7 (f5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
15. Mate in 3: rook to f8 (d8)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
16. Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to f3 (e2·16)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
17. Winning blow: bishop to e4 (g2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
18. Winning blow: bishop to a6 (d3)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
19. Winning blow: bishop to f4 (d2·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
20. Winning blow: knight to f8 (e6·5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
21. Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d5 (c4·115)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
22. Attack on the uncastled king: knight to g4 (e3·12)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
23. Winning blow: rook to a8 (a7·3)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
24. Winning blow: queen to e6 (b3·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
25. Winning blow: pawn to f4 (e3·9)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
Challenge
Review
Day complete — every puzzle solved. See you tomorrow!
Day 415 →