Winning blow: bishop to d7 (c6·4)
c9-11603naming 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 1870 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
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 b1, queen c5, rook a3, bishop c6, knight h1 f5, pawn b2 c2 g2 h2.
Black: king d8, queen d7, rook e2 e6, pawn d5 f6 a7 g7 h7.
10 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 27.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 3 points of material (27 against 24; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b1, the black king on d8.
It is White to move on move 27, with 55 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, 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
27. Bxd7 Rxc2 28. Kxc2 Re2+ 29. Kb3
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to d7 keeps the pressure (#7).
- Spot on — king to c2 (#5).
- A natural move: king to b3.
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Re1+, then Ka2 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 27. Bxd7 — bishop to d7 (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 #822.
SP-822 · RampartScout — King on the wing (b/g) with a knight on the rim (a/h) — the rarest family.
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and g1, the queen on e1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 134.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 55 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +25 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #822Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 014 · SP-822
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