Cozio's Mate Puzzle Two: White to move, Queen mate in two

    ABCDEFGH    
8                                        8
7                                         7
6                                    6
5                                         5
4                               4
3                                    3
2                                         2
1                                    1
    ABCDEFGH    



Cozio's mate is named after the Italian chess theorist Carlo Cozio. He published this particular checkmate pattern as a result of a positional study in 1766. Cozio also has an obscure opening defense named after him - Cozio's Defense is an unpopular (and self-constraining) variant of defending the Ruy Lopez.

Skeletal example below. Note that black's friendly pieces can be anything other than an unpinned knight to satisfy this particular checkmate pattern.

    ABCDEFGH    
8                                   ¤ 8
7                                    ¤ 7
6                                    ¤ 6
5                                    ¤ 5
4                          ¤ ¤ 4
3                          ¤ 3
2 ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ 2
1                                    1
    ABCDEFGH    



Having learned about the function and mechanism of Cozio's Mate, try to apply those principles to this more complex position...

Cozio's Mate Puzzle Two: White to move, Queen mate in three

    ABCDEFGH    
8                         8
7                               7
6                               6
5                                    5
4                     4
3                          3
2                                    2
1                                    1
    ABCDEFGH    




Further instruction Chess



Sources



Solutions to puzzles

Solution to Cozio's Mate Puzzle 1
MoveWhiteBlackAnnotation
1Qh6+Kg3♕ two spaces away controls the nearest diagonal square, pushing ♚ backwards
2Qh2#1-0The ♛ and ♟ block escape. These could have been any black pieces except an unpinned knight


Solution to Cozio's Mate Puzzle 2
MoveWhiteBlackAnnotation
1
1RxN!RxR♖ removes defender of h6! Black doesn't have any other immediate response to avoid losing 8 points of material without compensation
2Qh6+Kg3Without defender, pattern quickly emerges
3Qh2#1-0The ♝ and ♟ block escape. These could have been any black pieces except an unpinned knight





IronNoder 2018: 07/30

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