Red to play, mate in 2
Mate in 2, proven against every defence.
Red to move. There is exactly one winning first move here, and it mates in 2 against anything Black tries. Black's remaining force: a horse and a elephant.
The position
Red attacks with a horse and a cannon, and Black's General stands on f10. Black's defenders: a horse and a elephant.
- Mate in 2
- Horse finish
- Rating 1628
Red moves first. Find the move that forces mate whatever Black replies, then open the solution below.
Show the solution
It starts with 炮 b6×b9. Look at what it does: it takes a defender off the board on the way, and leaves Black 5 legal replies, none of which help.
The line
- Red炮 b6×b9Quiet, and there is no answer to the threat.
- Black將 f10–f9Black's most stubborn defence.
- Red傌 b8–d9Checkmate.
Black has 5 legal moves after the first blow and each was refuted to mate. The main line shown is the toughest defence rather than a convenient one.
Why it is mate
A horse delivering mate beside the palace is the shape players call the trough horse, 卧槽马: it checks and covers escape points at the same time, and because a horse cannot be blocked by a piece in its path once it has landed, only capture or flight would help.
Read about this patternHow this puzzle was checked
Nothing here is an engine opinion. The position was solved by trying every legal defence to the full mate distance, so the claim that Red mates in 2 is a proof rather than an evaluation, and the first move shown is the only one that works. The defence in the line above is Black’s most stubborn try, not a convenient one.
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New to mating patterns? The glossary names the ones that come up again and again, the piece guides explain what each piece can do, and the rules page covers everything from the start.