Winning blow: knight to d4 (f3·6)
c9-11086naming 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 e2, rook d1 h1, bishop g3 b5, knight c3 f3, pawn b2 c2 d2 h2 a4 e4 g5.
Black: king b7, queen d6, rook a8 h8, bishop d7 e7, knight d4 g4, pawn a5 e5 h5 b6 c7 f7 g7.
15 white and 15 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 16.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 38 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on c1, the black king on b7.
It is White to move on move 16, with 38 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 7. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: f.
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
16. Nxd4 Qxd4 17. Bxd7 Qxd7 18. h3 Bb4 19. hxg4
Why it works
- Great move! knight to d4 keeps the pressure (+3.3).
- Spot on — bishop to d7 (+3.5).
- Strong! pawn to h3 is the sharp choice (+3.2).
- Best move. pawn to g4 is exactly what the engine plays (+3.6).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Qxd4, then Bxd7 and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 16. Nxd4 — knight to d4 (capture)
- Qxd4 — queen to d4 (capture)
- 17. Bxd7 — bishop to d7 (capture)
- Qxd7 — queen to d7 (capture)
- 18. h3 — pawn to h3
- Bb4 — bishop to b4
- 19. hxg4 — pawn to g4 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Trapped piece
The attacked piece has no safe square — it is caught.
Trapping a piece means the attacked piece has no safe square left — it simply perishes. Do not chase it around; build a cage instead: cut off the escape squares with pawns and pieces first, and attack last. The typical victim has wandered deep into your camp or is stuck at the edge of the board, where its mobility is tiny. And always check the way home for your own raiders — or the trapped piece will be yours.
Remove the defender
Capture the guard first — then take what it protected.
Removing the defender is the straightforward plan: capture the guard first, then take what it guarded. Unlike deflection, the defender is not lured away — it is traded off or destroyed on the spot. Stare at the target you crave and ask who defends it, and whether that defender can be profitably eaten. Count the whole capture sequence, not just the first move — the trade must pay off at the end.
Overload
One defender guards two things — it cannot do both jobs.
Overloading exploits a defender with two jobs at once — guarding a piece and covering a mating square, for instance. It cannot do both: your first strike forces it to handle one duty and abandon the other. Find the overworked piece by asking what happens to each of its charges if it gets distracted. Then hit one target and collect the other — an overloaded defender only pretends to defend.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #537.
SP-537 · BastionGuard — King shifted to c or f, knights kept clear of the edges — 168 positions in all.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on f1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
The bishops stand on d1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a5 once the e- and d-pawns step aside.
The pawn on b2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 521.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 34 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +31 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #537Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 007 · SP-537
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads