Winning blow: bishop to c5 (g1·2)
c9-11447naming 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 b2, queen g2, rook b1 d1, bishop g1 h3, knight f5, pawn a2 d2 h2 b3 c3 f4 d6.
Black: king b8, queen h8, rook d8 e8, bishop f6 g6, knight c5 b6, pawn a7 b7 e7 h7.
14 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 18.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 35 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on b2, the black king on b8.
It is White to move on move 18, with 41 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: e.
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. Bxc5 Bxf5 19. Bxf5
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to c5 keeps the pressure (+3.2).
- Spot on — bishop to f5 (+3.2).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Bxf5, then Bxf5 and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 18. Bxc5 — bishop to c5 (capture)
- Bxf5 — bishop to f5 (capture)
- 19. Bxf5 — bishop to f5 (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 #382.
SP-382 · BastionScout — A knight on the a- or h-file, king on c or f — the mirror twin lands here as well.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and d1, 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 f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 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 292.
The engine's main line opens with c3.
Morozov Balance Index: 43 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +28 centipawns for White (depth 41, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #382Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 004 · SP-382
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