White to mate in 3 (SERIOUSLY HARD!!!)

I got this position from this brilliant site!!!

http://www.chessproblems.com

White to mate in 3 moves.


Bear in mind, black can check your king in certain variations which forces you to lose a move. That's all the help i will give you!

Originally posted by marinakatomb
I got this position from this brilliant site!!!

http://www.chessproblems.com

White to mate in 3 moves.
[fen]3r4/2R3N1/R1N5/1R4P1/K1P5/1B4Q1/1BN5/7k w - - 0 1[/fen]

Bear in mind, black can check your king in certain variations which forces you to lose a move. That's all the help i will give you!

Surely Kb4 is the 1st move!

Originally posted by Dragon Fire
Surely Kb4 is the 1st move!

I followed that path for a while. If you're looking for me to give you a hint though, think again! The combination is counter intuitive, give me a variation and i'll try and tell you the refutation. There are in fact two ways to solve this, as black has a couple of defenses to the opening move. 😉

Originally posted by Dragon Fire
Surely Kb4 is the 1st move!

After Rd1 the best white has is mate in 4, which is incorrect as the puzzle wants mate in 3.

How about 1 Na7 threatens 2 Rh6++ so blacks defenses are Rh8 and Rd2.

If 1...Rh8 then Kb4 and Ra1++ is unstoppable.
If 1...Rd2 then Kb4 and black has to choose which mate to defend against between Ra1++ and Rh6++. Either way, he can't defend both.

OK, now tell me what I missed, because I'm sure I missed something.

Originally posted by BLReid
How about 1 Na7 threatens 2 Rh6++ so blacks defenses are Rh8 and Rd2.

FWIW, there is also Rd6.

Question about this type of puzzle--If mate in 3 is required, then is mate in 2 acceptable?

For instance, if:

1.g6 Ra8
2.Rh5#

Does black "win" because he forced the checkmate to occur in 2 moves rather than the required 3 moves?

Originally posted by leisurelysloth
Question about this type of puzzle--If mate in 3 is required, then is mate in 2 acceptable?

For instance, if:

1.g6 Ra8
2.Rh5#

Does black "win" because he forced the checkmate to occur in 2 moves rather than the required 3 moves?

No, the mate has to be in 3.

When the stipulation is mate in 3 it means that there is no mate in 2 against best defence.

Originally posted by ThudanBlunder
FWIW, there is also Rd6.

You are right. I feel normal again. The best I can do then is mate in 4, but a monkey can find a mate in 4 in this position.

If mate in two is okay.... ..how about

1. Nf5 Rd7 otherwise 2.Rh7#, or if Rh8 then Re7, etc.
2. Re5 threatening mate on either the first rank or h file?

Originally posted by leisurelysloth
If mate in two is okay.... ..how about

1. Nf5 Rd7 otherwise 2.Rh7#, or if Rh8 then Re7, etc.
2. Re5 threatening mate on either the first rank or h file?

1. Nf5 Rd7 2. Re5 Re7! and there needs to be at least 2 more moves to mate.

Originally posted by leisurelysloth
If mate in two is okay....

leisurelysloth indeed!

1. Nf5 Rd7 2. Rd5! and now black must choose. Built on leisurelysloth's idea.

EDIT- Dang, still doesn't work because of 2. Rd6!!

that was easy.