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: nothing but the General.
The position
Red attacks with 2 soldiers and 2 horses, and Black's General stands on e8. Black's defenders: nothing but the General.
- Mate in 2
- General finish
- Rating 1661
Red moves first. Find the move that forces mate whatever Black replies, then open the solution below.
Show the solution
It starts with 傌 b6–d7. Look at what it does: it removes 1 escape point from the General, and leaves Black 1 legal reply, none of which help.
The line
- Red傌 b6–d7Quiet, and there is no answer to the threat.
- Black將 e8–d8Black's most stubborn defence.
- Red帥 d2–e2Checkmate.
Black has 1 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
The Generals decide it. With the file between them clear, the enemy General cannot stay where it is and cannot legally move to where it would still face its opposite number. That is the flying general rule doing the work.
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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