Winning blow: pawn to g6 (g5·2)
c9-10447naming 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 970 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 c2, queen g8, rook d1, pawn c3 g5 a6.
Black: king e8, rook a8, bishop f8, pawn e5 b6 c6 a7 d7.
6 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 39.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 4 points of material (17 against 13; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on c2, the black king on e8.
It is White to move on move 39, with 32 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): f, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, d, e.
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
39. g6 d5 40. Qf7+ Kd8 41. Qxf8+
Why it works
- Sensible development: pawn to g6.
- Spot on — queen to f7 (#4).
- Precise: queen to f8 is the top choice (#6).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead d5, then Qf7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 39. g6 — pawn to g6
Types in this puzzle
Quiet move
No check, no capture — yet this modest move decides the game.
A quiet move gives no check and takes nothing — yet it decides the game by creating an unstoppable threat or stealing the king's last square. This is the hardest class of moves: the eye hunts for loud blows while a modest shift does the winning. The clue: every forcing try runs into a defense, so seek the move that strengthens the threat or takes squares away. Train yourself to ask: what if I neither capture nor check, but quietly improve?
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #668.
SP-668 · ThroneGuard — The king starts in the middle of the back rank, on d or e, and neither knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on a1 and e1, the queen on h1.
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 b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: b2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 204.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 94 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +10 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #668Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 005 · SP-668
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