Winning blow: bishop to e5 (c3·2)
c9-11427naming 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 1060 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 h1, rook a1 g1, bishop c3 c6, pawn a2 b2 h2 d3 c4.
Black: king h8, queen e5, rook f3 a8, knight e2, pawn h5 a6 d6 b7 c7.
10 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 25.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 6 points of material (21 against 27; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on h1, the black king on h8.
It is White to move on move 25, with 40 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): e, f, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
25. Bxe5+ dxe5 26. Bxf3 Nxg1 27. Kxg1
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to e5 keeps the pressure (+5.8).
- Well found: bishop to f3 (+5.5).
- Precise: king to g1 is the top choice (+5.4).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead dxe5, then Bxf3 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 25. Bxe5+ — bishop to e5 (capture) with check
- dxe5 — pawn to e5 (capture)
- 26. Bxf3 — bishop to f3 (capture)
- Nxg1 — knight to g1 (capture)
- 27. Kxg1 — king to g1 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Win the pinned piece
The pinned piece cannot run — attack it again and win it.
A pinned piece cannot flee, which means you can win it outright by attacking it one more time. Count attackers against defenders: if you outnumber them, the piece is yours. The best extra attacker is a pawn, since it costs less than anything it might capture. Do not rush the capture — build up the pressure first, then harvest.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #421.
SP-421 · RampartGuard — The king starts out on a wing file, b or g, with neither knight in a corner.
The king starts on g1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on e1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
The bishops stand on c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
The pawn on g2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 730.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 89 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +14 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #421Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 006 · SP-421
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