Day 769: Mate in 3
Target rating: 1641
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. Mate in 3: queen to d4 (a1)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
2. Mate in 3: bishop to d2Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
3. Mate in 3: queen to c6 (f3)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
4. Mate in 3: rook to h8 (h7)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
5. Mate in 3: queen to d5 (g2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
6. Mate in 3: queen to f8 (d6)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
7. Mate in 3: pawn to e4Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
8. Mate in 2: rook to f4Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
9. Mate in 3: queen to b3Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
10. Mate in 3: bishop to d5Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
Core set
11. Mate in 3: rook to f7 (f4)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
12. Mate in 3: bishop to h6 (g5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
13. Mate in 3: queen to h6 (e3·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
14. Mate in 3: double attack on g2Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
15. Mate in 3: queen to a3 (e7)Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
16. Winning blow: bishop to d5 (f3·8)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
17. Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e6 (f4·11)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
18. Winning blow: rook to g7 (g6·6)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
19. Winning blow: knight to f6 (h7·5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
20. Attack on the uncastled king: queen to c7 (d8)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
21. Winning blow: queen to h5 (g5·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
22. Winning blow: bishop to h7 (e4·3)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
23. Winning blow: knight to f6 (d5·12)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
24. Mate in 2: rook to a2 (a8)Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
25. Winning blow: queen to f4 (e5·4)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
Challenge
Review
Day complete — every puzzle solved. See you tomorrow!
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