Red to play, mate in 1
Mate in 1, proven against every defence.
Red to move. There is exactly one winning first move here, and it mates in 1 against anything Black tries. Black's remaining force: 2 elephants.
The position
Red attacks with a soldier, a horse and a cannon, and Black's General stands on d8. Black's defenders: 2 elephants.
- Mate in 1
- Cannon finish
- Rating 1204
Red moves first. Find the move that forces mate whatever Black replies, then open the solution below.
Show the solution
It starts with 炮 f5–d5. Look at what it does: it removes 1 escape point from the General.
The line
- Red炮 f5–d5Checkmate.
Mate is immediate: no flight square, no capture and no block.
Why it is mate
This is the cannon behind the horse, 马后炮: the horse takes the escape squares and stands as the screen the cannon fires through. A blocking piece only becomes a second screen, so there is nothing to interpose.
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 1 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.