Day 884: Mate in 3
Target rating: 1878
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 f5 (h5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
2. Mate in 3: rook to a7 (b7·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
3. Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d6 (a3·5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
4. Mate in 3: bishop to a3 (b2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
5. Mate in 3: rook to e7 (e8)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
6. Mate in 3: queen to h6 (c1)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
7. Mate in 3: queen to e5 (h2·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
8. Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f5 (f6)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
9. Mate in 3: queen to a8 (a4)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
10. Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f6 (f2·5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
Core set
11. Mate in 3: queen to h2 (h5·2)Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
12. Mate in 3: queen to g7 (c3·3)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
13. Mate in 3: queen to h2 (h5)Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
14. Mate in 3: queen to d3 (d6)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
15. Mate in 3: fork on f1Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
16. Winning blow: queen to f8 (e7·5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
17. Winning blow: rook to e7 (e3·8)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
18. Winning blow: queen to g8 (h8·4)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
19. Winning blow: queen to d8 (d2·3)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
20. Winning blow: queen to c3 (d4)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
21. Winning blow: rook to d8 (d3·8)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
22. Winning blow: rook to d7 (d6·7)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
23. Winning blow: pawn to c7 (d6·8)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
24. Winning blow: rook to d4 (g4·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
25. Winning blow: rook to d5 (f5·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
Challenge
Review
Day complete — every puzzle solved. See you tomorrow!
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