Winning blow: bishop to b6 (g1·8)
c9-11883naming tag (square·N)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
Position on the board
White: king d1, queen a3, rook c1 e1, bishop g1 c6, pawn a2 d3 g3 h3 c4 f4 a6.
Black: king d8, rook e8, bishop g6 h8, knight d6, pawn a4 g5 b6 f6 e7 h7.
13 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 25.
Solution & explanation
Main line
25. Bxb6+ Kc8 26. a7 Bh5+ 27. g4
Why it works
- Best move. bishop to b6 is exactly what the engine plays (#4).
- pawn to a7 develops smoothly.
- A natural move: pawn to g4.
- You win decisive material (+15.0).
- If instead Kc8, then Qc5 and you stay on top.
Types in this puzzle
Hanging piece
A piece is left without protection — just take it.
A hanging piece is simply an unprotected piece you can take for free. It sounds primitive, yet most amateur games are decided exactly this way. Build the habit: before every move, sweep the board and note every undefended piece, yours and theirs. The classic mistake is hunting for a brilliant combination when all you need to do is bend down and pick up the gift.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #495.
SP-495 · ThroneGuard — Both knights start on inner files (b–g) while the king sits centrally on d or e — one of 204 positions filed here.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on a1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from d1 to g1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
The pawn on d2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 560.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 72 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +20 centipawns for White (depth 49, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #495Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 014 · SP-495
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