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 3 cannons, and Black's General stands on e10. Black's defenders: nothing but the General.
- Mate in 2
- General finish
- Rating 1723
Red moves first. Find the move that forces mate whatever Black replies, then open the solution below.
Show the solution
It starts with 炮 h10–h9. 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炮 h10–h9Quiet, and there is no answer to the threat.
- Black將 e10–f10Black's most stubborn defence.
- Red帥 d2–e2Checkmate.
Every one of Black's 1 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
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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