Chess960 tactic on g7
c9-10212Opens 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 2120 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 h1, queen g4, rook f3, bishop e7, pawn b2 g2 d4 h4 d6 f6.
Black: king f7, rook b8 f8, bishop h2, pawn a4 c6 g7.
10 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 39.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 7 points of material (23 against 16; 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 f7.
It is White to move on move 39, with 33 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, c.
The White king has 1 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
39. fxg7+ Bf4 40. gxf8=Q+ Rxf8 41. Rxf4+ Ke8 42. Rxf8#
Why it works
- Best move. pawn to g7 is exactly what the engine plays (#3).
- Spot on — pawn to f8 (#2).
- Precise: rook to f4 is the top choice (#1).
- Best move. rook to f8 is exactly what the engine plays (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 4.
- If instead Bf4, then gxf8=Q+ and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 39. fxg7+ — pawn to g7 (capture) with check
- Bf4 — bishop to f4
- 40. gxf8=Q+ — pawn to f8 (capture) with check
- Rxf8 — rook to f8 (capture)
- 41. Rxf4+ — rook to f4 (capture) with check
- Ke8 — king to e8
- 42. Rxf8# — rook to f8 (capture) 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.
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.
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 #216.
SP-216 · BastionScout — King off-centre on c or f with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
The king starts on f1, the rooks on d1 and h1, the queen on c1.
The queenside rook already stands on d1, so castling long moves only the king, from f1 to c1.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
The pawn on g2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 653.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 31 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +32 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #216Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 015 · SP-216
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads