In books with chess problems, a checkmate in 3 moves will be one of the first puzzles. This is taught already in the first lessons in chess schools.
Child mat
Many believe that the mat in 3 moves has a different name - children's. This is actually not the case. Baby mat is placed in four moves. This situation arose because beginners usually play such an arrangement - and these are usually children.
The essence of the child mat is to attack the vulnerable F7 cell. She is vulnerable because only one figure protects her - the king. Consider a classic checkmate in four moves with white. The first action is the royal pawn on E4. Black must make a similar move. White’s second move is a white officer on C4. After that, the black horse goes from B2 to C6, and the white queen goes to H5. Then the most important mistake occurs - in an attempt to attack the queen, the black horse walks on the F6 cage. The pawn located on F7 remains protected only by the king, so it is easily captured by the white queen. Game over.
Mat in 2 and 3 moves
A mat in 3 moves resembles a stupid one, which is put in two moves. But there is a difference. If only black pieces can put a stupid checkmate, then white can play a checkmate in 3 moves. To do this, they need to make a pawn move, which is located near the king , two steps, and Black must make a pawn move with a black bishop. White's second move can be anything, but should not block the queen's path to the H5 square. Black's classic second move involves a pawn move on G 5. After this, the white queen can capture the H5 square. That's all, this is where the game ends. It is very easy to prevent a similar outcome of the match. It is enough not to do one of the two steps of the black pieces described above.
Mat in three moves with capturing opponent's pieces
White pieces can checkmate, which will require three moves, while capturing several black pieces. First you need to open the queen, and the opponent must open his king with a pawn, which is located near the bishop. In this case, your pawn can take the opponent’s pawn by taking the F 5 field . You can quickly finish the game only when your opponent makes a pawn move to G 5 so that it becomes next to your pawn. Such a move would make the defense of the king impossible. The queen's move diagonally to the H5 cell will complete the game in three moves.
This outcome of the fight is very rare. Stupid or childish mat are even less common. To assure the game this way, your opponent must play chess poorly. However, these are the basics of chess literacy, and they need to be mastered to understand more complex arrangements.