Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to g6 (e4)
c9-02314naming tag (square·N)Opens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Chess960 twist: use the unusual starting setup of the pieces.
Uncastled king: the enemy king is stuck in the centre — punish it before it castles.
Winning tactic: there is a move that gains a decisive advantage — find it.
Difficulty 780 ShuffleRating — for beginners taking their first steps in Chess960 tactics.
White to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
In Chess960 the pieces start on unfamiliar squares, so tactics appear earlier and from unusual angles. Do not trust classical patterns — read the actual lines of the bishops, the rooks and the queen from where they really stand in this position.
An uncastled king in the centre is a standing target. Look for ways to open the central files and diagonals against it with checks and threats before it can shelter — every tempo the king spends in the middle is a chance for a combination.
This position hides a concrete tactic that wins material or mates. Start with the most forcing candidate moves — checks, captures and threats — and calculate each to a clear end before choosing; the winning line is usually the one the opponent cannot meet.
General method: before you move, list the forcing candidates — every check, every capture, every direct threat — and calculate those first. The solution to a tactic is almost always among them.
Position on the board
White: king e1, queen a1, rook c1 f1, bishop g1 e4, knight g4, pawn a2 d2 e2 h2 b4 c4 f4.
Black: king e8, queen g6, rook c8 f8, bishop d6 g8, knight d8 h8, pawn c5 b6 f6 a7 d7 e7 g7 h7.
14 white and 16 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 10.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 4 points of material (35 against 39; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on e1, the black king on e8.
It is White to move on move 10, with 46 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 8. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: g.
The White king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
10. Bxg6+ hxg6 11. bxc5 bxc5 12. Qb1
Why it works
- Brilliant! The bishop on g6 is a sacrifice that works — you stand better (+2.4).
- Spot on — pawn to c5 (+2.3).
- A natural move: queen to b1.
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead hxg6, then bxc5 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 10. Bxg6+ — bishop to g6 (capture) with check
Types in this puzzle
King in the center
The king starts in the middle — and the storm reaches it first.
King in the center: in Chess960 the monarch may start on the d- or e-file, right in the line of fire, and the attack can reach him before he ever castles. The signs: the enemy king still sits on its central starting square while the files toward it are opening. Play to rip the center open — a pawn sacrifice usually pays off here. And if it is your king in the middle, castle at the very first opportunity.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
Winning blow
Find the strike that wins material by force.
A winning blow is a forced material gain that does not fit a single textbook motif. The general tactical recipe applies: spot loose pieces, an awkwardly placed king, overloaded lines. Go through the forcing moves in order of violence — checks, captures, threats — because most combinations start with one of them. Do not judge by feel: calculate the concrete line until the outcome is beyond doubt.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #588.
SP-588 · ThroneScout — King on a central file (d/e) with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
The king starts on e1, the rooks on c1 and f1, the queen on a1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
The bishops stand on b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: g2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 284.
The engine's main line opens with Ng3, bringing the knight out to g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 69 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +21 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #588Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 001 · SP-588
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads