Winning blow: bishop to b5 (f1)
c9-07965naming 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.
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 d1, queen g5, rook b1, bishop f1, knight a1 h1, pawn c2 d2 h2 b3 a5 h5.
Black: king e8, queen f7, rook b8, bishop f8, knight h8, pawn f5 b6 d6 a7 c7.
12 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 15.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 4 points of material (29 against 25; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d1, the black king on e8.
It is White to move on move 15, with 40 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: f.
The White king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
15. Bb5+ Qd7 16. Bxd7+ Kxd7 17. Qxf5+
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to b5 keeps the pressure (+8.9).
- Spot on — bishop to d7 (+8.9).
- Precise: queen to f5 is the top choice (+8.9).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead c6, then Bxc6+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 15. Bb5+ — bishop to b5 with check
Types in this puzzle
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 #358.
SP-358 · ThroneScout — A knight starts on the edge (a/h) and the king sits centrally on d or e; the mirror twin stays in this family too.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on b1 and e1, the queen on g1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
The bishops stand on c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 310.
The engine's main line opens with f3.
Morozov Balance Index: 7 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +46 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #358Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 003 · SP-358
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