Winning blow: knight to b5 (c3·20)
c9-05657naming 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.
An opening trap from this Chess960 starting position.
Winning tactic: there is a move that gains a decisive advantage — find it.
Difficulty 1610 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
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.
Early Chess960 traps punish natural but careless development. Look for a forcing move that exploits a piece the opponent has just placed on a poor square — a fork, a pin or a threat that wins material before either side is fully developed.
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 d1, queen e1, rook c1 f1, bishop a1 h1, knight g1 c3, pawn a2 c2 d2 e2 f2 h2 b3.
Black: king c8, queen e8, rook d8 f8, bishop a8 h8, knight b8 g8, pawn f5 a7 b7 c7 d7 e7 h7.
15 white and 15 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 5.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 38 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on d1, the black king on c8.
It is White to move on move 5, with 27 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 7. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): g — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
The White king has 1 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
5. Nb5 Nc6 6. Bxh8
Why it works
- Great move! knight to b5 keeps the pressure (+3.6).
- Spot on — bishop to h8 (+3.7).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Nc6, then Bxh8 and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 5. Nb5 — knight to b5
- Nc6 — knight to c6
- 6. Bxh8 — bishop to h8 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
First-rank tactic
Pieces still on their starting rank become targets of a first-rank strike.
The first-rank tactic: enemy pieces that never left their starting rank become targets themselves. Standing shoulder to shoulder, they block each other and are often defended by nobody. Look for a strike along the first or eighth rank — a rook or queen that breaks through harvests the undeveloped pieces. The mistake is treating the back rank as a safe "rear area": in Chess960 it can be the most vulnerable place on the board.
Clearance
Clear your own piece out of the way — with tempo — for the decisive blow.
Clearance is about your own piece standing in the way of the decisive blow — so you move it aside, or even throw it away. The key is to clear with tempo: jump off with a check, a capture or a threat, giving the opponent no time to regroup. The telltale sign: you see a crushing queen or rook move, but one of your own pieces blocks the line or occupies the square. Do not cling to it — a clearance sacrifice usually costs less than a missed attack.
Early trap
In the first moves of a fresh setup a trap already snaps shut.
An early trap is a tactic that snaps shut within the first moves: an unfamiliar setup hides shots that classical openings never produce. Examine every starting position with fresh eyes — which pieces already aim at each other, what hangs after the first pawn moves. Moves that feel "safe" from classical habit can lose on the spot here. Chess960 has no opening theory; it has alertness from move one.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #339.
SP-339 · ThroneGuard — Both knights start on inner files (b–g) while the king sits centrally on d or e — one of 204 positions filed here.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and f1, the queen on e1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 323.
The engine's main line opens with g4.
Morozov Balance Index: 89 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +14 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #339Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 011 · SP-339
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