Winning blow: knight to d5 (c3·9)
c9-10930naming 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 1200 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 c1, queen g1, rook f1, knight c3 c4, pawn b2 c2 e2 h2 a3 g3 f5.
Black: king c8, queen g7, rook d5 f8, bishop c7, knight c6, pawn a4 g5 h5 b6 f6 b7 e7.
12 white and 13 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 17.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 5 points of material (27 against 32; 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 c8.
It is White to move on move 17, with 33 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 7. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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
17. Nxd5 Rd8 18. Ncxb6+ Bxb6 19. Nxb6+ Kb8 20. Nxa4
Why it works
- Great move! knight to d5 keeps the pressure (+2.3).
- Spot on — knight to b6 (+2.6).
- Strong! knight to b6 is the sharp choice (+2.5).
- Best move. knight to a4 is exactly what the engine plays (+2.4).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Rd8, then Ncxb6+ and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 17. Nxd5 — knight to d5 (capture)
- Rd8 — rook to d8
- 18. Ncxb6+ — knight to b6 (capture) with check
- Bxb6 — bishop to b6 (capture)
- 19. Nxb6+ — knight to b6 (capture) with check
- Kb8 — king to b8
- 20. Nxa4 — knight to a4 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Winning exchange
A forced series of captures on one square ends in your favour.
A winning exchange is a forced series of captures on one square that leaves you ahead in material. It is pure arithmetic: count the attackers and defenders of the square and note the value of every piece in the queue. Capture in the right order — cheap pieces first, expensive ones later — or a winning trade turns into a losing one. The classic error is stopping the count halfway and missing the opponent's final recapture.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #188.
SP-188 · ThroneScout — The king starts on d or e while at least one knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on c1 and f1, the queen on h1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
The bishops stand on b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- and f-pawns step aside.
The pawn on d2, e2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 780.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 37 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +30 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #188Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 007 · SP-188
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