Chess960 tactic on d8 (b6)
c9-11252naming 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: a forcing sequence that ends the game — the king has no escape.
Mate in 4: a forced checkmate in four moves — every reply is covered.
Difficulty 2120 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 is a forced mating attack. Start from the enemy king: which of its squares are already covered, and which move takes away the rest while keeping the king in check? Forcing moves — checks and captures — are what turn an attack into mate.
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.
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 d2, queen b6, bishop e3, knight c2 f4, pawn e2 h2 c3 a4 e5.
Black: king a8, queen g2, bishop b5, pawn c5 f5 h6 b7 d7.
10 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 30.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 6 points of material (23 against 17; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d2, the black king on a8.
It is White to move on move 30, with 39 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, d, f.
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
30. Qd8+ Ka7 31. Bxc5+ b6 32. Qxb6+ Ka8 33. Qa7#
Why it works
- Best move. queen to d8 is exactly what the engine plays (#3).
- Spot on — bishop to c5 (#2).
- Precise: queen to b6 is the top choice (#1).
- Best move. queen to a7 is exactly what the engine plays (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 4.
- If instead Ka7, then Bxc5+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 30. Qd8+ — queen to d8 with check
- Ka7 — king to a7
- 31. Bxc5+ — bishop to c5 (capture) with check
- b6 — pawn to b6
- 32. Qxb6+ — queen to b6 (capture) with check
- Ka8 — king to a8
- 33. Qa7# — queen to a7 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Supported queen mate
The queen delivers mate face to face, protected by a friend.
The supported queen mate is the most common pattern of all: the queen lands next to the king and mates because a friendly piece or pawn protects her. The king is helpless — capturing is impossible, and the queen covers every neighboring square herself. Hunt for a protected square beside the enemy king: a knight, bishop or pawn eyeing it turns her invasion into mate. Verify one thing — that the square really is defended, or the king eats her.
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.
Corner mate
Driven into the corner, the king runs out of squares.
The corner mate catches a king driven into the corner, where it has only three neighboring squares — all of them taken away or blocked. The corner is the worst home for a king, because the attacker needs to control the fewest squares there. Herd the king toward the corner with checks and never let it slip back toward the center. Cut off the escape routes before the final check, and the mate practically assembles itself.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #285.
SP-285 · BastionScout — Off-centre king plus a rim knight (a/h): 168 positions carry this shape.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on h1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
The bishops stand on d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 584.
The engine's main line opens with a4.
Morozov Balance Index: 78 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +18 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #285Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 015 · SP-285
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