Staircase mate — two rooks climb up

Mate in 3 White to move · Mate with the rook · Difficulty about Elo 1400

The plan

Two rooks on neighbouring ranks are a machine: one gives check, the other holds the rank next to it, and the king has to run back and forth between the two while the rooks work their way forward step by step. Here the machine already stands ready on the seventh rank, and because the king is jammed in behind its own pawns, it goes even faster. The first rook clears away the pawn shield and appears to sacrifice itself in doing so — but the second rook defends it, so the king is not allowed to capture. So the king is forced to wander from square to square until the second rook moves up. The defender's own rook takes away its last escape square. Remember: two rooks side by side on the seventh rank win almost by themselves.

Why this level: The basic pattern of every rook attack on the seventh rank; the move sequence is forced, but you have to accept the idea of the sacrifice.

The solution, move by move

1. 1. Rxg7+ The pawn shield falls with check. The king is not allowed to capture — the second rook defends.
2. 1… Kh8
3. 2. Rxh7+ The same again. Both times capturing is forbidden, and both times the king has exactly one square.
4. 2… Kg8
5. 3. Rdg7# Now the second rook moves up. The king cannot go sideways, its own rook stands there.

More in Mate with the rook

• Back-rank mate — the forgotten air Mate in 1
• Anastasia's mate — knight and rook in tandem Mate in 3
• The Opera Game — Morphy's final chord Mate in 2