Chess960 tactic on g2 (f1)
c9-09394naming 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.
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 2400 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 d6, rook c1, bishop f1 d4, knight e6, pawn d2 h2 a3 b3 e3.
Black: king a8, rook g8, bishop a5 b7, pawn h4 b5.
11 white and 6 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 34.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 15 points of material (28 against 13; 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 a8.
It is White to move on move 34, with 55 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 2. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, f, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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
34. Bg2 Rxg2 35. Qf8+ Bd8 36. Qxd8+ Bc8 37. Qxc8#
Why it works
- Sensible development: bishop to g2.
- Spot on — queen to f8 (#2).
- Precise: queen to d8 is the top choice (#1).
- Best move. queen to c8 is exactly what the engine plays (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 4.
- If instead Rxg2, then Qf8+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 34. Bg2 — bishop to g2
- Rxg2 — rook to g2 (capture)
- 35. Qf8+ — queen to f8 with check
- Bd8 — bishop to d8
- 36. Qxd8+ — queen to d8 (capture) with check
- Bc8 — bishop to c8
- 37. Qxc8# — queen to c8 (capture) and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Corner mate
Driven into the corner, the king runs out of squares.
The corner mate catches a king driven into the corner, where it has only three neighboring squares — all of them taken away or blocked. The corner is the worst home for a king, because the attacker needs to control the fewest squares there. Herd the king toward the corner with checks and never let it slip back toward the center. Cut off the escape routes before the final check, and the mate practically assembles itself.
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.
Win the pinned piece
The pinned piece cannot run — attack it again and win it.
A pinned piece cannot flee, which means you can win it outright by attacking it one more time. Count attackers against defenders: if you outnumber them, the piece is yours. The best extra attacker is a pawn, since it costs less than anything it might capture. Do not rush the capture — build up the pressure first, then harvest.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #737.
SP-737 · BastionGuard — Off-centre king (c/f), no knight on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and h1, the queen on g1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 411.
The engine's main line opens with b3.
Morozov Balance Index: 80 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +17 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #737Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 015 · SP-737
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