Winning blow: queen to a7 (g1·3)
c9-09132naming tag (square·N)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 1870 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
White to move — find the best continuation
Position on the board
White: king b2, queen g1, rook f8, pawn c2 d2 a3 a5.
Black: king c7, queen h4, pawn e4 b5 a6 d6.
7 white and 6 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 42.
Solution & explanation
Main line
42. Qa7+ Kc6 43. Qa8+ Kd7 44. Qe8+
Why it works
- Best move. queen to a7 is exactly what the engine plays (#3).
- Spot on — queen to a8 (#2).
- Precise: queen to e8 is the top choice (#1).
- You win decisive material (+15.0).
- If instead Kc6, then Qa8+ and you stay on top.
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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #377.
SP-377 · BastionScout — King shifted to c or f, with a knight committed to the corner from move one.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on h1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
The bishops stand on d1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a5 once the e- and d-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 297.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 37 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +30 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #377Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 014 · SP-377
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