Puzzle x4582 · rating 1615

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 soldier, a advisor and a elephant.

The position

Red attacks with 2 cannons and a horse, and Black's General stands on f8. Black's defenders: a soldier, a advisor and a elephant.

Mate in 2
Horse finish
Rating 1615

Red moves first. Find the move that forces mate whatever Black replies, then open the solution below.

Show the solution

It starts with 傌 g4–f6. Look at what it does: it removes 1 escape point from the General, and leaves Black 5 legal replies, none of which help.

The line

Red傌 g4–f6Quiet, and there is no answer to the threat.
Black卒 e9–e8Black's most stubborn defence.
Red傌 f6–h7Checkmate.

Every one of Black's 5 answers was played out to the end. The line below follows the most stubborn of them, the one that lasts longest and costs Red the most.

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 pattern

How 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.

Solve puzzles on a real board More mates in 2 Enter the board

Next puzzles

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.