Winning blow: bishop to c6 (d5·4)
c9-10362naming 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 1560 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 f1, queen b5, rook d1, bishop d5 e7, pawn f2 h3 f6.
Black: king a7, queen c3, rook e8 f8, pawn b4 c6 d6 g6 h7.
8 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 33.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (23 against 24; 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 a7.
It is White to move on move 33, with 40 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, c, d, g.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
33. Bxc6 Qxh3+ 34. Bg2 Qd3+ 35. Rxd3
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to c6 keeps the pressure (#5).
- Well found: bishop to g2 (#4).
- Precise: rook to d3 is the top choice (#3).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qxh3+, then Bg2 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 33. Bxc6 — bishop to c6 (capture)
- Qxh3+ — queen to h3 (capture) with check
- 34. Bg2 — bishop to g2
- Qd3+ — queen to d3 with check
- 35. Rxd3 — rook to d3 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Discovered attack
A piece steps aside and opens a second attack from the piece behind it.
A discovered attack works like a curtain: one piece steps off the line and unveils the long-range piece behind it. The beauty is that the moving piece can create a second threat of its own — two attacks in one move. Look for your stacked pairs: a bishop or rook behind a knight or pawn, aimed through them at something valuable. Send the front piece to the most aggressive square — a discovery without a second threat wastes half its power.
Counter-strike
Don't defend — answer the threat with a bigger one.
The counter-strike: instead of defending against the threat, you answer with a bigger threat of your own. While your opponent grabs a pawn, you deliver mate — the arithmetic favors you. Look for a counter when direct defenses fail: do you have a check, an attack on the queen, a mating threat? The beginner's error is meeting every threat with a reflexive defense without checking the counterattacking resources first.
Battery
Two pieces stacked on one line — the front one strikes with double force.
A battery stacks two long-range pieces on one line — a queen behind a bishop on a diagonal, or doubled rooks on a file. The front piece strikes with double force: capture it, and the piece behind recaptures with even more pressure. The battery is ready when both pieces already stare at one point and only the front strike is missing. Build batteries in advance on lines leading to the king — the doubling itself often breeds the combination.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #678.
SP-678 · ThroneGuard — King on a central file (d/e) with both knights on inner files — the classic-type setup.
The king starts on d1, 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 f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: f2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 470.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 13 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +41 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #678Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-678
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