Chess960 tactic on f7 (f3)
c9-09750naming 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 f1, queen c4, rook b1 f3, bishop a1, knight e3, pawn a2 b2 e2 f2 h2 d3 g4.
Black: king g7, queen d6, rook b8 g8, bishop h8, knight e8, pawn g6 a7 d7 e7 f7 h7.
13 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 11.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (32 against 31; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on f1, the black king on g7.
It is White to move on move 11, with 44 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
The White king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
11. Rxf7+ Kh6 12. g5+ Kxg5 13. Qg4+ Kh6 14. Qh4#
Why it works
- Best move. rook to f7 is exactly what the engine plays (#3).
- Spot on — pawn to g5 (#2).
- Precise: queen to g4 is the top choice (#1).
- Best move. queen to h4 is exactly what the engine plays (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 4.
- If instead Kh6, then g5+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 11. Rxf7+ — rook to f7 (capture) with check
- Kh6 — king to h6
- 12. g5+ — pawn to g5 with check
- Kxg5 — king to g5 (capture)
- 13. Qg4+ — queen to g4 with check
- Kh6 — king to h6
- 14. Qh4# — queen to h4 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #403.
SP-403 · BastionGuard — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, with neither knight in a corner.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on b1 and g1, the queen on c1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 739.
The engine's main line opens with g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 83 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +16 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #403Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 015 · SP-403
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