Winning blow: rook to d7 (d1·28)
c9-10680naming 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.
Mate in 4: a forced checkmate in four moves — every reply is covered.
Winning tactic: there is a move that gains a decisive advantage — find it.
Difficulty 2400 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.
A mate in four is a longer forced net: each of your moves is a check or an irresistible threat, and the king is driven step by step to a square where it is finally trapped. Verify that the defender has exactly one reply at every branch.
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 c1, rook d1 h1, bishop b2 b3, knight e5, pawn a2 g2 g4 h5.
Black: king c7, pawn b4 d7 h7.
10 white and 4 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 32.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 20 points of material (23 against 3; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on c1, the black king on c7.
It is White to move on move 32, with 41 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, e, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, d.
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
32. Rxd7+ Kb6 33. Bd4+ Ka5 34. Ra7+ Kb5 35. Bc4#
Why it works
- Best move. rook to d7 is exactly what the engine plays (#3).
- Spot on — bishop to d4 (#2).
- Precise: rook to a7 is the top choice (#1).
- Best move. bishop to c4 is exactly what the engine plays (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 4.
- If instead Kb6, then Bd4+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 32. Rxd7+ — rook to d7 (capture) with check
- Kb6 — king to b6
- 33. Bd4+ — bishop to d4 with check
- Ka5 — king to a5
- 34. Ra7+ — rook to a7 with check
- Kb5 — king to b5
- 35. Bc4# — bishop to c4 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Two-bishop mate
The bishop pair sweeps two adjacent diagonals — the king has nowhere to hide.
The two-bishop mate rakes two adjacent diagonals: one bishop mates while the other seals off the escape squares. The bishops complement each other perfectly — living on opposite colors, together they cover an unbroken strip of the board. The pattern usually appears at the edge or in the corner where the king was pressed beforehand. Treasure the bishop pair until the attack comes — on an open board two adjacent diagonals become a solid wall.
Mate in 4+
A long forced mating combination.
Mate in four or longer is a marathon of forcing moves where the grip must never loosen. The tools are the same: checks, double threats and sacrifices that deny the opponent a single free tempo. Do not juggle the whole tree at once — walk the main line all the way to mate first, then verify the side branches. If somewhere the defender finds one quiet move that holds, your very first move was wrong.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #494.
SP-494 · 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 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 f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
The pawn on d2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 564.
The engine's main line opens with g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 28 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +33 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #494Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 015 · SP-494
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