Open in the app

Day 288: Castling to safety

Lesson of the day

Castling to safety: the only escape from the attack is to castle — one move whisks the king to g1 or c1 and brings the rook into play as a bonus. In Chess960 this leap can cross half the board, which is exactly why it slips out of sight. Whenever your king is under pressure, ask first: can I still castle? The typical blunder is throwing that right away with a careless king or rook move.

Warm-up

1. Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to b3 (c2·13)Shuffle Rating 780Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
2. Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to b3 (c2·14)Shuffle Rating 780Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
3. Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to a4 (d1·10)Shuffle Rating 780Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
4. Winning blow: queen to a8 (c6)Shuffle Rating 780Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
5. Attack on the uncastled king: knight to h2 (f3·5)Shuffle Rating 780Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
6. Attack on the uncastled king: rook to h1 (g1·7)Shuffle Rating 780Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
7. Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b4 (e1·8)Shuffle Rating 780Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
8. Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e4 (d3·41)Shuffle Rating 780Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
9. Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to a8 (h1·29)Shuffle Rating 780Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
10. Attack on the uncastled king: king to c2 (b1·6)Shuffle Rating 780Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation

Core set

11. Castling-960 to the rescue on a8 (d8·2)Shuffle Rating 1150Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
12. Castling-960 to the rescue on g1 (f1·4)Shuffle Rating 1150Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
13. Castling-960 to the rescue on a1 (d1)Shuffle Rating 1150Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
14. Castling-960 to the rescue on c1 (d1·3)Shuffle Rating 1150Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
15. Castling-960 to the rescue on a1 (d1·2)Shuffle Rating 1150Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
16. Winning blow: knight to c5 (d3·10)Shuffle Rating 1060Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
17. Winning blow: pawn to a7 (b6)Shuffle Rating 1060Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
18. Winning blow: rook to f5 (f4)Shuffle Rating 1060Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
19. Winning blow: rook to d1 (e1·4)Shuffle Rating 1060Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
20. Winning blow: pawn to g5 (h4·9)Shuffle Rating 1060Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
21. Winning blow: queen to c1 (c2)Shuffle Rating 1060Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
22. Winning blow: bishop to d5 (h1·7)Shuffle Rating 1060Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
23. Winning blow: bishop to c5 (g1·8)Shuffle Rating 1060Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
24. Winning blow: knight to d6 (e4·5)Shuffle Rating 1060Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
25. Winning blow: queen to a8 (h1·3)Shuffle Rating 1060Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation

Challenge

26. Mate in 1: rook to h5 (h8)Shuffle Rating 1134Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
27. Mate in 1: queen to a1 (e5·2)Shuffle Rating 1154Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
28. Mate in 3: queen to f2 (f6·2)Shuffle Rating 1273Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation

Review

29. Winning blow: knight to e7 (f5·3)Shuffle Rating 920Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
30. Winning blow: queen to f7 (f4·3)Shuffle Rating 1150Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation

Day complete — every puzzle solved. See you tomorrow!

Day 289 →