Winning blow: knight to b6 (c4·8)
c9-11618naming 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 f2, rook a1, bishop g6, knight c4 f4, pawn d2 e2 h2 f3 g4.
Black: king f8, rook c6 h8, knight d4 b6, pawn h3 b4 f6 e7 g7.
10 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 24.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (19 against 21; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on f2, the black king on f8.
It is White to move on move 24, with 45 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): a, c — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b.
The White king has 5 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
24. Nxb6 e6 25. Ra8+ Ke7 26. Nbd5+ exd5 27. Rxh8
Why it works
- Great move! knight to b6 keeps the pressure (+4.9).
- Spot on — rook to a8 (+5.2).
- Precise: knight to d5 is the top choice (+4.8).
- Best move. rook to h8 is exactly what the engine plays (+5.3).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead e6, then Ra8+ and you win the knight.
Move by move
- 24. Nxb6 — knight to b6 (capture)
- e6 — pawn to e6
- 25. Ra8+ — rook to a8 with check
- Ke7 — king to e7
- 26. Nbd5+ — knight to d5 with check
- exd5 — pawn to d5 (capture)
- 27. Rxh8 — rook to h8 (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 #204.
SP-204 · ThroneGuard — King on a central file (d/e) with both knights on inner files — the classic-type setup.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on d1 and h1, the queen on a1.
The queenside rook already stands on d1, so castling long moves only the king, from e1 to c1.
The bishops stand on b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- 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 668.
The engine's main line opens with c3.
Morozov Balance Index: 93 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: 0 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
In 50 self-play games White scored 46.0% (95% CI 33.0–59.6%).
Explore position #204Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 007 · SP-204
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