Winning blow: rook to e7 (f7)
c9-11155naming 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 1010 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 e1, rook c2 f7, bishop e3, knight c6, pawn d2 h2 g3 c4.
Black: king e8, rook g5, bishop a3, pawn d6 h7.
9 white and 5 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 34.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 10 points of material (20 against 10; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on e1, the black king on e8.
It is White to move on move 34, with 44 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 2. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, b, e, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
The White king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
34. Re7+ Kf8 35. Bxg5 h5 36. Nd8
Why it works
- Great move! rook to e7 keeps the pressure (#5).
- Spot on — bishop to g5 (#4).
- A natural move: knight to d8.
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Kf8, then Bxg5 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 34. Re7+ — rook to e7 with check
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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #95.
SP-95 · ThroneScout — King in the middle of the rank, with a knight already committed to the corner.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and e1, the queen on f1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, b2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 864.
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 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #95Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 006 · SP-95
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