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.
The position
Red attacks with 2 horses, a chariot and a cannon, and Black's General stands on e10. Black's defenders: a soldier.
- Mate in 2
- Horse finish
- Rating 1687
Red moves first. Find the move that forces mate whatever Black replies, then open the solution below.
Show the solution
It starts with 傌 i7–g8. Look at what it does: it removes 2 escape points from the General, and leaves Black 1 legal reply, none of which help.
The line
- Red傌 i7–g8Quiet, and there is no answer to the threat.
- Black卒 e6–e5Black's most stubborn defence.
- Red傌 g6×e5Checkmate.
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
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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