Winning blow: queen to f2 (e3·2)
c9-09159naming 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 1200 ShuffleRating — club-player level.
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 b1, queen e3, bishop h1, knight d1 b3, pawn b2 c2 h2 a4 d5.
Black: king b8, queen c8, rook f2, bishop e8, knight h4 e6, pawn g4 a5 h5 b7 c7 d7.
10 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 20.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 6 points of material (23 against 29; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b1, the black king on b8.
It is White to move on move 20, with 39 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: g.
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
20. Qxf2 Qd8 21. dxe6 dxe6 22. Nc3 Nf5 23. Nxa5
Why it works
- Great move! queen to f2 keeps the pressure (+3.1).
- Spot on — pawn to e6 (+3.4).
- A natural move: knight to c3.
- Best move. knight to a5 is exactly what the engine plays (+3.2).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Qd8, then dxe6 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 20. Qxf2 — queen to f2 (capture)
- Qd8 — queen to d8
- 21. dxe6 — pawn to e6 (capture)
- dxe6 — pawn to e6 (capture)
- 22. Nc3 — knight to c3
- Nf5 — knight to f5
- 23. Nxa5 — knight to a5 (capture)
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 #715.
SP-715 · RampartGuard — The king starts out on a wing file, b or g, with neither knight in a corner.
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and g1, the queen on c1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: e2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 433.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 16 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +39 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #715Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 007 · SP-715
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