Winning blow: king to b1 (a2)
c9-08841naming 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 970 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 a2, queen c8, rook d3, knight h6, pawn g2 b3 c3 f3 h3 a4.
Black: king a7, queen f2, bishop g1, pawn a5 f6 g6 b7 h7.
10 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 33.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 6 points of material (23 against 17; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on a2, the black king on a7.
It is White to move on move 33, with 4 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle. White are in check right now, so every reply must answer the check.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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
33. Kb1 Qf1+ 34. Kc2 Qxg2+ 35. Rd2
Why it works
- Great move! king to b1 keeps the pressure (+5.0).
- Well found: king to c2 (+5.3).
- A natural move: rook to d2.
- You win decisive material (+5.9).
- If instead Qe1+, then Kc2 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 33. Kb1 — king to b1
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.
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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #894.
SP-894 · BastionScout — King off-centre on c or f with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
The king starts on c1, the rooks on a1 and d1, the queen on b1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
The bishops stand on f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 68.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 51 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +26 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #894Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 005 · SP-894
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