Winning blow: queen to g8 (d5)
c9-11325naming 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 920 ShuffleRating — for beginners taking their first steps in Chess960 tactics.
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 e2, queen d5, rook b1 f4, bishop g3 b5, pawn g2 c3 a4 f5.
Black: king d8, queen a7, rook h4 c5, knight d6 d7, pawn b6 f6 e7.
10 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 34.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (29 against 28; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on e2, the black king on d8.
It is White to move on move 34, with 56 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, e.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 8 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
34. Qg8+ Kc7 35. Rxh4
Why it works
- Great move! queen to g8 keeps the pressure (+6.3).
- Well found: rook to h4 (+6.3).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Kc7, then Rxh4 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 34. Qg8+ — queen to g8 with check
- Kc7 — king to c7
- 35. Rxh4 — rook to h4 (capture)
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 #493.
SP-493 · ThroneGuard — A central king (d or e) and two knights tucked onto inner files: the family that holds the standard array, SP-518.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on b1 and h1, the queen on a1.
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 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: g2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 568.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 5 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +49 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #493Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 004 · SP-493
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