Winning blow: queen to g8 (h7·2)
c9-07307naming 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.
A fork made possible by the Chess960 piece placement.
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.
A set-up fork needs one preparing move before the fork lands — a check that drives the king onto the forking square, or a capture that lines the targets up. Find the preparation first, then the fork it makes possible.
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 f1, queen h7, rook d1 g1, bishop h1, knight a1 e1, pawn a2 b2 e2 f2 h2 c3 g3.
Black: king e7, queen b8, rook d8 g8, bishop g7 c8, knight a8 e8, pawn c5 d5 a7 f7.
14 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 9.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 35 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on f1, the black king on e7.
It is White to move on move 9, with 44 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 4. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: d.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
9. Qxg8 Nac7 10. Qh7 Qxb2 11. Nd3
Why it works
- Great move! queen to g8 keeps the pressure (+2.9).
- queen to h7 develops smoothly.
- A natural move: knight to d3.
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Qxb2, then Qh7 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 9. Qxg8 — queen to g8 (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.
Setup fork
The random setup allows a fork that classical chess never sees.
A setup fork is a double attack that exists only because of the unusual starting squares — in classical chess these targets never stand side by side. Look for pairs of undefended pieces on your opponent's back rank and for squares from which a knight or pawn hits both at once. Such forks usually appear within the first moves, before the pieces disperse. In every new position, note right away which starting pieces are defended by no one.
Early queen raid
From an odd starting square the queen raids before defences exist.
The early queen raid: from an odd starting square the queen bursts into the game before any defense exists. In classical chess an early queen sortie gets punished, but in Chess960 it sometimes hits squares that literally no one can defend. The sign: within a move or two the queen reaches an unprotected pawn or piece near the enemy king. First check whether the queen can be chased with tempo — otherwise the raid just loses time.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #119.
SP-119 · BastionScout — King shifted to c or f, with a knight committed to the corner from move one.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on d1 and g1, the queen on b1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
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: h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 834.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 97 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +7 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #119Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 003 · SP-119
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