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Real positions. Quiet practice.

Printable Mate in 3 Puzzles

Real positions from rated games. Narrow them by motif, difficulty or rating, then solve or print each one.

Printable worksheet

12 mate in 3 puzzles, every difficulty, with answer key

Three-move mating combinations with branching defenses: sacrifices to strip the king, quiet second moves that close the net, and precise final blows.

Solve these online instead Customise: pick difficulty, count and paper size

Positions come from real rated games. The answer key prints on the last page.

Mate in 3 — chess puzzle worksheet Name: ______________ Date: ______________

	♜					♝
						♚	♟
						♟
		♟	♟
					♕
			♙
♙		♙		♖		♙	♙
							♔

#1 · black to move · rating 606

♜	♞				♜	♚
♟	♖					♟
							♟
		♛

		♙
♙		♙			♙	♙	♙
♖		♗	♕			♔

#2 · black to move · rating 876

	♖				♝	♚
							♟
		♕	♟		♜	♟
		♟
♙		♙		♟

♛					♙	♙	♙
	♖					♔

#3 · black to move · rating 1014

				♜		♚
♟	♟				♟		♟
					♕
							♛
					♖	♙
		♙
♙	♙				♙
						♔

#4 · black to move · rating 1138

			♚
				♝		♟
♟			♟	♕	♟	♙
		♟	♙		♙
		♙	♛
	♔
♙	♙
♖

#5 · black to move · rating 1243

						♚
	♟	♛					♟
♟				♙	♖
	♜					♟

	♕						♙
♙						♙
						♔

#6 · white to move · rating 1336

						♜	♚
			♕			♝	♟
♟			♟
					♟
♙	♛
		♟					♙
		♙
♔				♖		♖

#7 · white to move · rating 1453

				♜		♚
					♟		♟

♟	♟				♕		♟
			♙			♞
				♝		♗
♙	♙	♗		♔	♙	♛

#8 · white to move · rating 1584

					♜		♚
						♟
						♕	♟
	♟				♗

			♙
	♙	♛		♜		♝	♙
♖					♖	♔

#9 · black to move · rating 1747

♜							♜
♟	♟
		♞
		♕
♘
	♙					♛	♟
♚		♙				♟
				♖		♔

#10 · white to move · rating 1911

♜		♝	♛		♞	♚
♟	♟	♟				♟
				♟		♕	♟
				♙		♝
			♙
		♙	♗
♙		♙				♙	♙
					♖	♔

#11 · white to move · rating 2080

♜				♚		♞	♜
♟					♟		♟
♝		♞
			♟	♙	♘
	♟	♟	♙			♟
		♙		♛		♙
♙	♙	♔		♗		♙
♖	♘		♕		♖

#12 · black to move · rating 2660

Answer key

#1 (puzzle 0hd2O): Rb1+ → Re1 → Rxe1+ → Qf1 → Rxf1#
#2 (puzzle 0CfjW): Qxf2+ → Kh1 → Qf1+ → Qxf1 → Rxf1#
#3 (puzzle 03xmY): Qxf2+ → Kh1 → Qf1+ → Rxf1 → Rxf1#
#4 (puzzle 09pJk): Re1+ → Kg2 → Qh1+ → Kg3 → Rg1#
#5 (puzzle 06Z0W): Qd3+ → Ka4 → Qxc4+ → Ka3 → Qb4#
#6 (puzzle 0BazR): e7+ → Rxb3 → e8=Q+ → Kg7 → Qf8#
#7 (puzzle 01aP5): Qxg7+ → Rxg7 → Re8+ → Rg8 → Rgxg8#
#8 (puzzle 0OWTj): Qxh7+ → Kf8 → Bd6+ → Re7 → Qh8#
#9 (puzzle 0LOr0): Qc5+ → d4 → Qxd4+ → Rf2 → Qxf2#
#10 (puzzle 0VN2v): Ra1+ → Kxa1 → Qa3+ → Kb1 → Qb2#
#11 (puzzle 09nfc): Qf7+ → Kh8 → Qxf8+ → Qxf8 → Rxf8#
#12 (puzzle 0B4Hl): b3+ → axb3 → Nb4+ → cxb4 → cxb3#

Positions from real rated games (CC0 data).