Chess960 tactic on g4
c9-09063Opens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Chess960 twist: use the unusual starting setup of the pieces.
Mate: a forcing sequence that ends the game — the king has no escape.
Mate in 4: a forced checkmate in four moves — every reply is covered.
Difficulty 2120 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 is a forced mating attack. Start from the enemy king: which of its squares are already covered, and which move takes away the rest while keeping the king in check? Forcing moves — checks and captures — are what turn an attack into mate.
A mate in four is a longer forced net: each of your moves is a check or an irresistible threat, and the king is driven step by step to a square where it is finally trapped. Verify that the defender has exactly one reply at every branch.
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 e4, rook c2, knight e1, pawn a2 b2 d5 e5.
Black: king d7, queen f1, rook c8, bishop f8, knight e8, pawn g3 b6 a7 b7 g7.
8 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 20.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 4 points of material (21 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 d7.
It is White to move on move 20, with 36 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, f, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: g.
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
20. Qg4+ Qf5 21. Qxf5+ Kd8 22. Rxc8+ Ke7 23. Qe6#
Why it works
- Great move! queen to g4 keeps the pressure (#3).
- Well found: queen to f5 (#2).
- Precise: rook to c8 is the top choice (#1).
- Best move. queen to e6 is exactly what the engine plays (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 4.
- If instead Qf5, then Qxf5+ and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 20. Qg4+ — queen to g4 with check
- Qf5 — queen to f5
- 21. Qxf5+ — queen to f5 (capture) with check
- Kd8 — king to d8
- 22. Rxc8+ — rook to c8 (capture) with check
- Ke7 — king to e7
- 23. Qe6# — queen to e6 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Supported queen mate
The queen delivers mate face to face, protected by a friend.
The supported queen mate is the most common pattern of all: the queen lands next to the king and mates because a friendly piece or pawn protects her. The king is helpless — capturing is impossible, and the queen covers every neighboring square herself. Hunt for a protected square beside the enemy king: a knight, bishop or pawn eyeing it turns her invasion into mate. Verify one thing — that the square really is defended, or the king eats her.
Mate in 4+
A long forced mating combination.
Mate in four or longer is a marathon of forcing moves where the grip must never loosen. The tools are the same: checks, double threats and sacrifices that deny the opponent a single free tempo. Do not juggle the whole tree at once — walk the main line all the way to mate first, then verify the side branches. If somewhere the defender finds one quiet move that holds, your very first move was wrong.
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #278.
SP-278 · ThroneScout — The king starts on d or e while at least one knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on b1 and g1, the queen on h1.
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.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, f2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 582.
The engine's main line opens with Nb3, bringing the knight out to b3.
Morozov Balance Index: 83 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +16 centipawns for White (depth 42, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #278Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 015 · SP-278
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads