Winning blow: queen to c5 (e3·2)
c9-11291naming 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 d1, queen e3, rook a1 e1, bishop f1 g3, knight f5, pawn b2 c2 g2 h2 f3 e4 a5.
Black: king d8, queen e6, rook a8 e8, bishop c5 g8, knight g6 c8, pawn g5 c6 f6 a7 b7 d7 h7.
14 white and 15 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 18.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 3 points of material (35 against 38; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d1, the black king on d8.
It is White to move on move 18, with 50 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: d.
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
18. Qxc5 h5 19. Ng7 Qe7 20. Qxe7+ Ncxe7 21. Nxe8
Why it works
- Great move! queen to c5 keeps the pressure (+4.1).
- Spot on — knight to g7 (+4.0).
- Strong! queen to e7 is the sharp choice (+3.9).
- Best move. knight to e8 is exactly what the engine plays (+4.0).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead h5, then Ng7 and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 18. Qxc5 — queen to c5 (capture)
- h5 — pawn to h5
- 19. Ng7 — knight to g7
- Qe7 — queen to e7
- 20. Qxe7+ — queen to e7 (capture) with check
- Ncxe7 — knight to e7 (capture)
- 21. Nxe8 — knight to e8 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Knight fork
One knight move attacks two targets at once — the opponent can only save one.
A fork is one move that attacks two targets at once, and no piece forks better than the knight. Look through the knight's eyes: it jumps in an L and never moves along straight lines, which is exactly why its threats get missed. Both victims of a knight fork always stand on squares of one color, while the knight strikes from the opposite color. Hunt for the square from which the knight hits the king and a heavy piece at once.
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 #606.
SP-606 · ThroneScout — King on a central file (d/e) with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
The king starts on d1, the rooks on a1 and e1, the queen on b1.
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 ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 260.
The engine's main line opens with Ng3, bringing the knight out to g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 51 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +26 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #606Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 007 · SP-606
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