Winning blow: rook to c5 (c3·2)
c9-10225naming 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 1200 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 b2, queen f1, rook d1 c3, bishop a3 d3, knight e1, pawn d2 b3 a4 e4 g4 h5.
Black: king a7, queen g8, rook a8 d8, bishop c5 e6, knight b4, pawn a5 e5 f6 h6 b7 c7 g7.
13 white and 14 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 25.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (34 against 35; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b2, the black king on a7.
It is White to move on move 25, with 31 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 7. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: c, f.
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
25. Rxc5 Nxd3+ 26. Nxd3 Bxb3 27. Rdc1 Bxa4 28. Ka1
Why it works
- Great move! rook to c5 keeps the pressure (+3.0).
- Well found: knight to d3 (+2.9).
- A natural move: rook to c1.
- Best move. king to a1 is exactly what the engine plays (+2.3).
- You reach a winning position (+2.3).
- If instead Nxd3+, then Nxd3 and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 25. Rxc5 — rook to c5 (capture)
- Nxd3+ — knight to d3 (capture) with check
- 26. Nxd3 — knight to d3 (capture)
- Bxb3 — bishop to b3 (capture)
- 27. Rdc1 — rook to c1
- Bxa4 — bishop to a4 (capture)
- 28. Ka1 — king to a1
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.
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 #934.
SP-934 · RampartScout — A knight in the corner and the king out on the wing (b/g); like every family, it is closed under mirror twins.
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and d1, the queen on g1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 22.
The engine's main line opens with a4.
Morozov Balance Index: 7 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +47 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #934Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 007 · SP-934
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads