Mate in 3 puzzles

Three moves against best defence. These are the hardest positions in the set: a single winning first move, the defender's most stubborn answer at each step, and a mate that only exists if every move is exact.

Set the board up in your head before you touch a piece. The winning line usually combines two of the basic patterns, a check that drives the General to a square where a second piece is already waiting. If you can solve these reliably, you are calculating at a level most club players never reach.