Mating patterns
Mate in 3 puzzles
By Antoine TamanoUpdated
A mate in 3 is a position where you can force checkmate on your third move, whatever your opponent replies in between. The first move rarely looks like a mate: it is a check, a sacrifice or a quiet move that takes squares away from the king, so that the last two moves become a mate in 2 you already know. To find it, start from the forcing moves and count the replies, one by one, all the way to the end.
Play it
Real puzzles from real games, rated 1168 to 1877. No account needed.
Work backwards from the mate
Three moves are too many to calculate blindly, so do not start from the first one. Start from the picture at the end: which mate could this position have? A king walled in by its own pieces asks for a knight. A king behind three unmoved pawns asks for a rook on the back rank. Once you see the final picture, the first two moves are the ones that force the king, and the defenders, into it.
The first diagram is the oldest example in the book. Nh6+ is a double check, the knight and the queen on c4 at once, so the king has to move, and Kh8 is its only square. Qg8+ puts the queen next to the king, where the knight protects it, and Rxg8 is the only legal reply. The rook now fills the king's last square, and Nf7 is a smothered mate. These are the last three moves of a combination old enough to have a name, Philidor's legacy.
The sacrifice in the middle
Some mates in 3 give something away on the second move. The first move drives the king to a square, the second removes the last pawn or piece standing between it and the mate, and the opponent has to take, because taking is the only legal move.
In the second diagram Ne7+ forces Kh8: the rook on f8 and the pawn on h7 leave no other square. Now the knight on e7 covers g8 and g6, and only the h7 pawn shields the king. Qxh7+ gives the queen for that pawn, Kxh7 is forced, and the rook swings to h3 with mate. That is Anastasia's mate: before the sacrifice, ask what the king's last guard is, and whether you can afford to remove it.
Count the attackers on one square
Some mates in 3 are pure arithmetic. When three of your pieces aim at a square and only two of the opponent's defend it, you can take there three times and the last capture is yours. If that square is on a back rank the king cannot leave, the last capture is mate.
In the third diagram White's two rooks and queen are lined up on the e-file against e8. Black defends it with the rook on d8 and, behind that rook, the queen on c8. Rxe8+ Rxe8, Rxe8+ Qxe8, and Qxe8 is a back rank mate: the pawns on f7, g7 and h7 never moved. Before you start a sequence of captures, count both sides. With one attacker fewer, the opponent makes the last capture and there is no mate; whether the trades cost material then depends on the values of the pieces exchanged.
How the puzzles here were chosen
Every puzzle on this page comes from a real game on Lichess, with Lichess's rating, easiest first. Each one was checked move by move against every defence: there is no mate in 2 or less hiding in it, the first move forces mate in three whatever the reply, it is the only first move that does, and after the reply the game saw, the second move is the only one that keeps the mate on. On the last move any checkmate counts, even one the game did not play.
If three moves feel like too many, the mate in 2 puzzles are the same work one move shorter, and the mate in 1 puzzles train the final picture.
Questions
What does mate in 3 mean in chess?
That the side to move can force checkmate on its third move, whatever the opponent plays in between: your move, any reply, your move, any reply, then your mating move.
How do you solve a mate in 3?
Picture the mate first: which pattern could end this game, and where would the king have to stand? Then look for checks, captures and threats that drive the king there, and for each candidate check every reply, not only the natural one. A move that leaves a single legal reply is the easiest to calculate, which is why so many mates in 3 begin with a check.
Why do so many mates in 3 begin with a sacrifice?
Because the defender usually has enough pieces to stop a mate in one or two. Giving up a piece pulls a defender away or opens the king, and a capture that is the only legal move is as forcing as a check.
Why was my move marked wrong?
Every puzzle on this page was checked to have one first move that forces mate in three, and one second move that keeps it forced after the reply. Any other move either lets the king escape or takes longer. On the last move, any checkmate is accepted.
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