Chess lessons › Checkmate patterns
Mate in three
Longer mates are found one forcing move at a time.
The idea
Find a forcing move, see the reply, and ask again until it is mate.
- Start with a check: the king cannot move, so Black must block.
- A rook blocks, and you take it with check.
- The other rook blocks too; take it, and it is mate.
In a game: Do not hunt for the end at once: play a check, see the reply, and look again.
How the lesson begins
In a mate in three your first move has to leave a mate in two, whatever the other side replies. Do not try to see the end at once. Find a forcing move, such as a check, see what the other side must do, and then ask the same question again.
Watch White do it. Every move is a check, so Black always has very few replies.
- 43. Ra8+ Rb8 44. Rxb8+ Rc8 45. Rxc8#
Find the move
Mate in three. Look for the checks, one move at a time.
A hint
Start with a check. What must the other side do?
Show the answer
34. Rh8+ Rf8 35. Rxf8+ Ne8 36. Rxe8#
Rh8+ is the first move of a mate in three. Each of your moves leaves the other side very few replies.
In numbers
In the puzzle bank
3,827 puzzles in GreyChess’s bank practise it. Half of them are rated between 1,424 and 2,114.
The piece that makes the first move of the answer: queen 40%, rook 33%, knight 13%, bishop 8%, pawn 5%, in puzzles from the Lichess puzzle database.