Winning blow: knight to f5 (e3·26)
c9-08341naming 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 2100 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
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 e1, queen h8, rook d1 h1, bishop g1, knight e3 h5, pawn d2 e2 g2 h2 a3 b3 f3 c4.
Black: king e7, queen a8, rook d8, bishop e4 b8, pawn h3 b4 e6 a7 c7 d7.
15 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 16.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 10 points of material (36 against 26; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on e1, the black king on e7.
It is White to move on move 16, with 39 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 8 pawns, Black 6. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
16. Nf5+ Bxf5 17. Bc5+ d6 18. Qg7+
Why it works
- Great move! knight to f5 keeps the pressure (#3).
- Well found: bishop to c5 (#2).
- Strong! queen to g7 is the sharp choice (#1).
- You win decisive material (+15.0).
- If instead Bxf5, then Bc5+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 16. Nf5+ — knight to f5 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.
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 #204.
SP-204 · ThroneGuard — King on a central file (d/e) with both knights on inner files — the classic-type setup.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on d1 and h1, the queen on a1.
The queenside rook already stands on d1, so castling long moves only the king, from e1 to c1.
The bishops stand on b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: g2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 668.
The engine's main line opens with c3.
Morozov Balance Index: 93 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: 0 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
In 50 self-play games White scored 46.0% (95% CI 33.0–59.6%).
Explore position #204Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 015 · SP-204
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