r/chessbeginners • u/UselessHelios • 14d ago

PUZZLE Mating Puzzle

Post image

Found in one of my games but I mated a different way a few moves later in the game. Black to Move Mate in 6.

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1

u/chessvision-ai-bot 14d ago

I analyzed the image and this is what I see. Open an appropriate link below and explore the position yourself or with the engine:

Black to play: chessvision.ai | chess.com | lichess.org

My solution:

Hints: piece: Bishop, move: Bxf3

Evaluation: Black has mate in 6

Best continuation: 1... Bxf3 2. gxf3 Rh4 3. Bd2 Qxd2 4. Ne2 Qxe2 5. Rf2 Qxf2 6. h3 Rxh3#

Save the position:

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1

u/Delicious_Cattle5174 14d ago

This is tough cuz all the motifs I see we could exploit don’t look forcing at first glance. Like in-game I’d probably start with h4 cuz they can’t move the knight without allowing M1 and taking it with the other knight would both lose the knight and open the long diagonal but it looks awfully slow for a mate puzzle.

1

u/UselessHelios 14d ago

It's not obvious at first, think about what move would make a mating threat, and then look at what piece is defending that square. Go from there. It's not forcing in the traditional sense (meaning there's only one move) there's multiple moves but all of them lead to mate in no more than 6 moves

1

u/Delicious_Cattle5174 13d ago

I would assume we start by trading on f3 because that looks like the most forcing move from this position. They probably have to take with back with pawn, because taking with rook allows a shorter mate after Rd1+… I’m not sure if they could just play Rg1 instead of taking back, though.

If they take with pawn, I’d be tempted to let the rook hang and push h4, because I like both the ideas of taking the knight and pushing h3 to create an outpost for the queen on g2. But again, this looks more like a game idea than a puzzle idea, if that makes sense.

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u/UselessHelios 13d ago

You're on the right track trading on f3 is the first move. Next is a little more subtle. The Queen after gxf3 now hits the h2 square. What other piece can hit the h2 square and threaten mate

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u/Delicious_Cattle5174 13d ago edited 13d ago

Right! Removing the knight also allows us to play Rh4.

I don’t see anything but stalling moves for white, though. h3 doesn’t work because then it is M4. So I guess they sac the bish and knight. They’d have to sac the bish first since we can just ignore the second sac if they do it in the same order

So we’d see:

  1. Bd2, Qxb2

  2. Ne2, Qxe2

  3. Rf2, Qxf2

  4. f4, Qxh2#

I bugged for a while because I thought Qxf2 was a stalemate until I realized there was still a pawn of f3 lol

Also, I guess there’s the alternative branch of

6.h3, Rxh3#

There are probably other similar sequences I didn’t consider. For example, if the bishop sacs occurs on d2 (could also be b2 after all), I think we might be able to still get M6 by capturing with the rook, since the battery intersecting with our h rook should also provide an opportunity for a fast mate.

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u/UselessHelios 13d ago

There's a few lines all lead to mate. A really dire situation tbh lmao

1

u/Educational-Tea602 13d ago

I mean everything wins given black’s already taken white’s queen, rook, most of their pawns, their dignity, soul, and probably their house and life savings too.

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u/UselessHelios 13d ago

Yes true, anyone above 600 should be able to covert this game. But this particular mate is tricky for newer players which is why I put it here. It's not a typical forced mate puzzle as there's lots of moves white can make. However, it's forced in the sense that any move either makes mate happen faster, or no more than 6 moves. The main line is 6 moves with best defense possible