Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to g7 (h6·5)
c9-07693naming 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.
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 920 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.
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.
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 g1, queen a1, rook e1 f1, bishop h1 h6, knight b1 d1, pawn a2 e2 f2 g2 h2 c3 d3.
Black: king f8, queen a8, rook e8 g8, bishop g7 c8, knight b4 d8, pawn a6 g6 b7 c7 d7 e7 f7 h7.
15 white and 16 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 6.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (38 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 g1, the black king on f8.
It is White to move on move 6, with 24 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: b.
The White king has 0 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
6. Bxg7+ Kxg7 7. cxb4+
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to g7 keeps the pressure (+4.6).
- Well found: pawn to b4 (+4.3).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Kxg7, then cxb4+ and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 6. Bxg7+ — bishop to g7 (capture) with check
- Kxg7 — king to g7 (capture)
- 7. cxb4+ — pawn to b4 (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.
Win the pinned piece
The pinned piece cannot run — attack it again and win it.
A pinned piece cannot flee, which means you can win it outright by attacking it one more time. Count attackers against defenders: if you outnumber them, the piece is yours. The best extra attacker is a pawn, since it costs less than anything it might capture. Do not rush the capture — build up the pressure first, then harvest.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #7.
SP-7 · BastionGuard — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, with neither knight in a corner.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on e1 and g1, the queen on a1.
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.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: c2, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 946.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 59 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +24 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #7Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 004 · SP-7
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads