Winning blow: king to g4 (g3)
c9-12069naming 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 g3, rook f3, bishop d6, pawn a2 b3 c3 d4 h4.
Black: king g8, queen g4, rook a8, bishop g7, pawn a3 b4 d5 c6.
8 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 35.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 8 points of material (13 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 g3, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 35, with 3 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle. White are in check right now, so every reply must answer the check.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e, f, g — 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. Kxg4 bxc3 36. Rxc3 Rc8 37. Bc5 Re8 38. Bxa3
Why it works
- Great move! king to g4 keeps the pressure (+1.7).
- Spot on — rook to c3 (+2.1).
- A natural move: bishop to c5.
- Best move. bishop to a3 is exactly what the engine plays (+2.4).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead bxc3, then Rxc3 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 35. Kxg4 — king to g4 (capture)
- bxc3 — pawn to c3 (capture)
- 36. Rxc3 — rook to c3 (capture)
- Rc8 — rook to c8
- 37. Bc5 — bishop to c5
- Re8 — rook to e8
- 38. Bxa3 — bishop to a3 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Overload
One defender guards two things — it cannot do both jobs.
Overloading exploits a defender with two jobs at once — guarding a piece and covering a mating square, for instance. It cannot do both: your first strike forces it to handle one duty and abandon the other. Find the overworked piece by asking what happens to each of its charges if it gets distracted. Then hit one target and collect the other — an overloaded defender only pretends to defend.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #438.
SP-438 · RampartGuard — King on the wing (b/g) with both knights on inner files.
The king starts on g1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on e1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
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: c2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 710.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 26 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +34 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #438Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 007 · SP-438
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