Winning blow: bishop to c4 (b5·2)
c9-09243naming 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 h1, queen c5, bishop b5, pawn g2 a3 b3 h3.
Black: king g8, queen e4, rook e8, pawn h5 f6 a7 g7.
7 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 39.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (16 against 18; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on h1, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 39, with 36 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: f.
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
39. Bc4+ Re6 40. Qc8+ Kf7 41. Qd7+ Kg6 42. Qxe6
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to c4 keeps the pressure (+4.9).
- Spot on — queen to c8 (+4.8).
- Strong! queen to d7 is the sharp choice (+4.9).
- Best move. queen to e6 is exactly what the engine plays (+5.1).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Re6, then Qc8+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 39. Bc4+ — bishop to c4 with check
- Re6 — rook to e6
- 40. Qc8+ — queen to c8 with check
- Kf7 — king to f7
- 41. Qd7+ — queen to d7 with check
- Kg6 — king to g6
- 42. Qxe6 — queen to e6 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
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.
Absolute pin
A piece is pinned against its king — it cannot legally move.
An absolute pin freezes a piece on the line between its own king and your long-range attacker: moving it is simply illegal. The pattern is three units on one straight line — your bishop, rook or queen, an enemy piece, and the enemy king behind it. A pinned piece neither attacks nor defends anything: treat it as if it were off the board. Pile up on it, ideally with a pawn, because running away is against the rules.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #586.
SP-586 · ThroneScout — A knight starts on the edge (a/h) and the king sits centrally on d or e; the mirror twin stays in this family too.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on b1 and g1, the queen on a1.
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 e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 277.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 40 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +29 centipawns for White (depth 40, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #586Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 007 · SP-586
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