Winning blow: rook to b8 (b2)
c9-11745naming 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 a2, rook b2 c6, pawn e2 a3 f3 g3 e5 g5.
Black: king d8, queen g8, rook a7, pawn a5 f5 e6.
9 white and 6 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 35.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (16 against 17; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on a2, the black king on d8.
It is White to move on move 35, with 29 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, c, d, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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
35. Rb8+ Kd7 36. Rd6+ Ke7 37. Rxg8
Why it works
- Great move! rook to b8 keeps the pressure (+10.5).
- Well found: rook to d6 (#9).
- Strong! rook to g8 is the sharp choice (#5).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kd7, then Rd6+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 35. Rb8+ — rook to b8 with check
- Kd7 — king to d7
- 36. Rd6+ — rook to d6 with check
- Ke7 — king to e7
- 37. Rxg8 — rook to g8 (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.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #852.
SP-852 · ThroneGuard — King on a central file (d/e) with both knights on inner files — the classic-type setup.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on a1 and f1, the queen on h1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from d1 to g1.
The bishops stand on b1 and c1; their long diagonals reach h7 and h6 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 110.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 24 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +35 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #852Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 006 · SP-852
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads