Winning blow: rook to g5 (g2)
c9-10648naming 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 2380 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
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 g6, rook e2 g2, knight e4 h6, pawn d2 e3 h3 a4.
Black: king f8, queen a6, rook c8, knight g5, pawn b2 b6 f6 a7 d7 e7 g7.
10 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 27.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 5 points of material (29 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 f8.
It is White to move on move 27, with 32 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 7. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, f, g.
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
27. Rxg5 b1=Q+ 28. Kf2 Qf1+ 29. Kxf1
Why it works
- Great move! rook to g5 keeps the pressure (#7).
- Well found: king to f2 (#6).
- Strong! king to f1 is the sharp choice (#5).
- You win a piece — the knight.
- If instead b1=Q+, then Kf2 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 27. Rxg5 — rook to g5 (capture)
- b1=Q+ — pawn to b1 with check
- 28. Kf2 — king to f2
- Qf1+ — queen to f1 with check
- 29. Kxf1 — king to f1 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Sacrifice attack
Give up material to unleash a decisive attack.
A sacrificial attack gives up material on purpose to rip the king's shelter open and launch a decisive assault. The sac is sound when you get concrete assets in return: open lines to the king, tempi, pieces ready to pour in. The signs: a poorly sheltered king, your forces aimed at its home, defenders stranded far away. The iron rule is to calculate, not hope — once the material is gone, there is no way back.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #304.
SP-304 · BastionScout — A knight on the a- or h-file, king on c or f — the mirror twin lands here as well.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on e1 and g1, the queen on d1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 367.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 40 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +29 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #304Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 015 · SP-304
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