Winning blow: king to e2 (d1·17)
c9-09546naming 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 1110 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 d1, queen h6, rook c3, bishop f2 h5, knight c5, pawn d2 h2 e4 f4.
Black: king g8, queen a1, rook c8, knight b6 c6, pawn a4 d7 e7.
10 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 29.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 4 points of material (27 against 23; 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 g8.
It is White to move on move 29, with 3 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle. White are in check right now, so every reply must answer the check.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, c, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
29. Ke2 Qxc3 30. dxc3
Why it works
- Great move! king to e2 keeps the pressure (#10).
- Well found: pawn to c3 (#9).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qxc3, then dxc3 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 29. Ke2 — king to e2
- Qxc3 — queen to c3 (capture)
- 30. dxc3 — pawn to c3 (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 #75.
SP-75 · ThroneScout — Centre-file king, rim knight: 204 of the 960 positions share this pattern.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on f1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
The second rank carries 3 pawns with no defender at all: a2, b2, h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 881.
The engine's main line opens with g4.
Morozov Balance Index: 18 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +38 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #75Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 007 · SP-75
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