Last week’s mate in 3 was composed by Oliver Harcourt Labone. Labone, his extraordinary life and colourful family, have been the subject of my two most recent Minor Piece posts on British Chess News. This post tells Oliver’s story, and this post centres on his chess playing father. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed researching them.

Here’s the solution:

1. Nd6! Kxd6 (1… Bxc7 2. Qe3+ Kxd6 3. Qe5#) (1… Kd4 2. Qf2+ Kc3 3.
Qb2#) (1… Kb6 2. Qa5+ Kxa5 3. Nc4#) 2. Qa5 Bxc7 (2… c5 3. Qb6#) 3. Qe5#