Winning blow: pawn to b5
c9-02337Opens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Chess960 twist: use the unusual starting setup of the pieces.
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.
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 b1, rook e1 a3, bishop g1 h1, knight d1 a5, pawn b2 c2 d2 g3 a4 e4.
Black: king c8, queen b5, rook d8 e8, bishop g8 h8, knight e5, pawn b7 c7 d7 e7 f7 h7.
13 white and 13 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 13.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 6 points of material (28 against 34; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b1, the black king on c8.
It is White to move on move 13, with 37 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 6. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: f, h.
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
13. axb5 b6 14. Nb3 f5 15. d3
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to b5 keeps the pressure (+5.5).
- knight to b3 develops smoothly.
- Precise: pawn to d3 is the top choice (+5.3).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead b6, then Nb3 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 13. axb5 — pawn to b5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Hanging piece
A piece is left without protection — just take it.
A hanging piece is simply an unprotected piece you can take for free. It sounds primitive, yet most amateur games are decided exactly this way. Build the habit: before every move, sweep the board and note every undefended piece, yours and theirs. The classic mistake is hunting for a brilliant combination when all you need to do is bend down and pick up the gift.
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.
Counter-strike
Don't defend — answer the threat with a bigger one.
The counter-strike: instead of defending against the threat, you answer with a bigger threat of your own. While your opponent grabs a pawn, you deliver mate — the arithmetic favors you. Look for a counter when direct defenses fail: do you have a check, an attack on the queen, a mating threat? The beginner's error is meeting every threat with a reflexive defense without checking the counterattacking resources first.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #767.
SP-767 · RampartGuard — A wing king (b/g) with no knight on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and e1, the queen on f1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: d2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 384.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 51 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +26 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #767Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 001 · SP-767
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