Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to g6 (f5·20)
c9-12498naming 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.
An opening trap from this Chess960 starting position.
Uncastled king: the enemy king is stuck in the centre — punish it before it castles.
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.
Early Chess960 traps punish natural but careless development. Look for a forcing move that exploits a piece the opponent has just placed on a poor square — a fork, a pin or a threat that wins material before either side is fully developed.
An uncastled king in the centre is a standing target. Look for ways to open the central files and diagonals against it with checks and threats before it can shelter — every tempo the king spends in the middle is a chance for a combination.
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 f1, queen c1, rook d1 g1, bishop a1 b1, knight e1, pawn a2 c2 d2 g2 h2 b3 e3 f5.
Black: king f8, queen c8, rook d8 g8, bishop g3 g6, knight e8 h8, pawn b6 c6 a7 d7 e7 f7 g7 h7.
15 white and 16 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 6.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 3 points of material (36 against 39; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on f1, the black king on f8.
It is White to move on move 6, with 26 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 8 pawns, Black 8. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in.
The White king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
6. fxg6 Bxe1 7. gxh7 Bh4 8. hxg8=R+
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to g6 keeps the pressure (+3.1).
- Well found: pawn to h7 (+3.2).
- Precise: pawn to g8 is the top choice (+3.1).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Bxe1, then gxh7 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 6. fxg6 — pawn to g6 (capture)
- Bxe1 — bishop to e1 (capture)
- 7. gxh7 — pawn to h7 (capture)
- Bh4 — bishop to h4
- 8. hxg8=R+ — pawn to g8 (capture) with check
Types in this puzzle
King in the center
The king starts in the middle — and the storm reaches it first.
King in the center: in Chess960 the monarch may start on the d- or e-file, right in the line of fire, and the attack can reach him before he ever castles. The signs: the enemy king still sits on its central starting square while the files toward it are opening. Play to rip the center open — a pawn sacrifice usually pays off here. And if it is your king in the middle, castle at the very first opportunity.
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.
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #576.
SP-576 · BastionScout — King off-centre on c or f with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
The king starts on f1, the rooks on d1 and g1, the queen on c1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 287.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 100 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: 0 centipawns for White (depth 49, 400 000 000 nodes).
In 50 self-play games White scored 50.0% (95% CI 36.6–63.4%).
Explore position #576Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 006 · SP-576
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