Winning blow: bishop to f2 (g1)
c9-09035naming 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 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.
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 b2, rook a1, bishop g1 e2, knight c3, pawn c2 d2 g2 b3 a4 h4 f6.
Black: king d8, queen f2, rook a8 e8, bishop e6, pawn g5 h5 c6 a7 b7 d7.
12 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 19.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 7 points of material (21 against 28; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b2, the black king on d8.
It is White to move on move 19, with 36 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
19. Bxf2 gxh4 20. Bxh4
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to f2 keeps the pressure (+5.3).
- Spot on — bishop to h4 (+5.4).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead gxh4, then Bxh4 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 19. Bxf2 — bishop to f2 (capture)
- gxh4 — pawn to h4 (capture)
- 20. Bxh4 — bishop to h4 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Remove the defender
Capture the guard first — then take what it protected.
Removing the defender is the straightforward plan: capture the guard first, then take what it guarded. Unlike deflection, the defender is not lured away — it is traded off or destroyed on the spot. Stare at the target you crave and ask who defends it, and whether that defender can be profitably eaten. Count the whole capture sequence, not just the first move — the trade must pay off at the end.
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 #557.
SP-557 · BastionGuard — Off-centre king (c/f), no knight on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on f1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
The bishops stand on d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
The pawn on b2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 504.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 0 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +63 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
In 50 self-play games White scored 65.0% (95% CI 51.1–76.7%).
Explore position #557Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 004 · SP-557
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