Winning blow: pawn to e4 (d3·9)
c9-10640naming 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 1060 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 c5, pawn e2 c3 d3 b4 g5.
Black: king c7, pawn e4 b5 a6 c6 g6.
6 white and 6 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 33.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 5 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on c5, the black king on c7.
It is White to move on move 33, with 5 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): f, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a.
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
33. dxe4 Kd7 34. Kb6 Kd6 35. Kxa6
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to e4 keeps the pressure (+6.3).
- king to b6 develops smoothly.
- Strong! king to a6 is the sharp choice (+7.2).
- You win decisive material (+7.2).
- If instead Kd7, then Kb6 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 33. dxe4 — pawn to e4 (capture)
- Kd7 — king to d7
- 34. Kb6 — king to b6
- Kd6 — king to d6
- 35. Kxa6 — king to a6 (capture)
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.
Pawn endgame
Kings and pawns only — every tempo is worth gold.
In a pawn endgame only kings and pawns remain, and everything is calculated to the very end: opposition, the rule of the square, spare tempi. It is easy to recognize but must be entered deliberately — trading the last pieces is irreversible. Before you exchange, evaluate the resulting pawn ending in advance: is it actually won? A typical mistake is chasing enemy pawns with your king when you should be racing to promote your own.
King march
In the endgame the king is a fighting piece — march it in.
The king march: in the endgame the king is a fighting piece, and often it is his journey forward that wins. It is time to march when the queens are off and checks hold no danger — the king attacks pawns, escorts the passer, takes squares away. The telltale sign of the theme is several king moves in a row. Plan the full route in advance using the rule of the square, and do not let the enemy king grab the opposition.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #280.
SP-280 · ThroneScout — A knight starts on the edge (a/h) and the king sits centrally on d or e; the mirror twin stays in this family too.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on h1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: b2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 589.
The engine's main line opens with g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 13 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +41 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #280Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 006 · SP-280
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads