Day 631: Mate in 3
Target rating: 1416
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 c5 (b7·6)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
2. Winning blow: bishop to b7 (d5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
3. Winning blow: pawn to e6 (f5·5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
4. Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f5 (f2·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
5. Winning blow: rook to b1 (b3·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
6. Winning blow: queen to d6 (e6)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
7. Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c3 (e2·4)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
8. Attack on the uncastled king: rook to f8 (e8·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
9. Winning blow: rook to e3 (e2·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
10. Winning blow: queen to g7 (g6)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
Core set
11. Winning blow: queen to g7 (g2·4)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
12. Winning blow: knight to e6 (g5·17)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
13. Winning blow: queen to d7 (a4·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
14. Winning blow: queen to g5 (h4·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
15. Winning blow: queen to c7 (b8·4)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
16. Mate in 2: bishop to g8 (f7)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
17. Mate in 2: rook to b1 (b8)Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
18. Winning blow: rook to c7 (c4·5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
19. Mate in 2: queen to e5 (e8)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
20. Winning blow: knight to b5 (d4·8)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
21. Mate in 2: queen to c5 (f2·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
22. Winning blow: knight to c5 (b3·13)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
23. Mate in 2: rook to g7 (c7)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
24. Winning blow: bishop to f5 (e6·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
25. Mate in 2: rook to g6 (g5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
Challenge
Review
Day complete — every puzzle solved. See you tomorrow!
Day 632 →