Winning blow: rook to h8 (h1·2)
c9-10150naming 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 920 ShuffleRating — for beginners taking their first steps in Chess960 tactics.
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 g2, rook h1 c2, pawn d3 c4 e4 g5.
Black: king f8, queen c8, rook b7, bishop h8, pawn c5 a6 d6 f7.
7 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 36.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 7 points of material (14 against 21; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g2, the black king on f8.
It is White to move on move 36, with 30 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): b, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, f.
The White king has 6 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
36. Rxh8+ Kg7 37. Rxc8
Why it works
- Great move! rook to h8 keeps the pressure (+5.2).
- Well found: rook to c8 (+5.3).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kg7, then Rxc8 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 36. Rxh8+ — rook to h8 (capture) with check
- Kg7 — king to g7
- 37. Rxc8 — rook to c8 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Skewer
A line attack forces the valuable piece to move, exposing the one behind it.
A skewer is a pin turned inside out: the valuable piece stands in front and something cheaper hides behind it. The big piece must step aside, and you collect the one that was sheltering in its shadow. Scan for the enemy king or queen sharing a file, rank or diagonal with another enemy piece. The deadliest version comes with check — the king moves, the rook behind it dies.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #59.
SP-59 · BastionScout — King shifted to c or f, with a knight committed to the corner from move one.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on d1.
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 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 BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 897.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 55 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +25 centipawns for White (depth 49, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #59Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 004 · SP-59
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads