Winning blow: knight to d4 (c2·4)
c9-08880naming 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 2400 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 g1, queen f7, rook b1 f1, bishop d3, knight c2, pawn a2 b2 g2 h2 c4 e5.
Black: king d8, queen b8, rook h8, bishop g4 g7, knight e6 a8, pawn b6 g6 c7 d7 h7.
12 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 16.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 31 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on g1, the black king on d8.
It is White to move on move 16, with 45 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): f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. 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
16. Nd4 Kc8 17. Nxe6
Why it works
- Great move! knight to d4 keeps the pressure (+3.6).
- Spot on — knight to e6 (+3.7).
- You win a piece — the knight.
- If instead Kc8, then Nxe6 and you win the knight.
Move by move
- 16. Nd4 — knight to d4
- Kc8 — king to c8
- 17. Nxe6 — knight to e6 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Quiet move
No check, no capture — yet this modest move decides the game.
A quiet move gives no check and takes nothing — yet it decides the game by creating an unstoppable threat or stealing the king's last square. This is the hardest class of moves: the eye hunts for loud blows while a modest shift does the winning. The clue: every forcing try runs into a defense, so seek the move that strengthens the threat or takes squares away. Train yourself to ask: what if I neither capture nor check, but quietly improve?
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #230.
SP-230 · ThroneScout — The king starts on d or e while at least one knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on b1 and h1, the queen on d1.
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 630.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 7 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +47 centipawns for White (depth 49, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #230Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 015 · SP-230
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads