Winning blow: rook to c8 (c1·7)
c9-10361naming 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 e1, rook c1 h1, knight f5, pawn d2 e2 f2 g3 b7.
Black: king f8, rook b2 h8, knight f6 g6, pawn h4 e5 d7 f7 g7.
9 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 24.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 3 points of material (18 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 e1, the black king on f8.
It is White to move on move 24, with 37 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, c — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: h.
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
24. Rc8+ Ne8 25. b8=Q Rxb8 26. Rxb8 f6 27. gxh4
Why it works
- Great move! rook to c8 keeps the pressure (+3.5).
- pawn to b8 develops smoothly.
- Strong! rook to b8 is the sharp choice (+3.3).
- Best move. pawn to h4 is exactly what the engine plays (+3.3).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Ne8, then b8=Q and you win the pawn.
Move by move
- 24. Rc8+ — rook to c8 with check
- Ne8 — knight to e8
- 25. b8=Q — pawn to b8
- Rxb8 — rook to b8 (capture)
- 26. Rxb8 — rook to b8 (capture)
- f6 — pawn to f6
- 27. gxh4 — pawn to h4 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Promotion
The pawn reaches the last rank and becomes a queen — decisively.
Promotion turns a pawn on the last rank into a queen and rewrites the evaluation on the spot. In tactics the passer rarely walks in for free — usually a sacrifice clears its path. Count the tempi: how many moves does the pawn need, and can the defender stop it in time? And watch the promotion square itself — it must be out of enemy reach or won by force in your combination.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #677.
SP-677 · ThroneGuard — King home on d or e, knights kept off the a- and h-files — the family of the standard starting array.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on b1 and h1, the queen on a1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
The bishops stand on c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: g2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 474.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 59 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +24 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #677Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 007 · SP-677
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