Winning blow: bishop to b6 (a5·3)
c9-12525naming 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 1700 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
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 d2, queen e4, rook f2, bishop a5, knight f6, pawn a2 b2 e3 c4 d5.
Black: king d8, queen f8, rook g7 a8, bishop d3, knight f7, pawn c5 g5 a6 b6 d6 e7.
10 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 25.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 6 points of material (25 against 31; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d2, the black king on d8.
It is White to move on move 25, with 39 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): f, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: g.
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
25. Bxb6+ Kc8 26. Qe6+ Kb8 27. Nd7+ Kb7 28. Nxf8
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to b6 keeps the pressure (+5.6).
- Spot on — queen to e6 (+4.9).
- Strong! knight to d7 is the sharp choice (+5.4).
- Great move! knight to f8 keeps the pressure (+5.5).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kc8, then Qe6+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 25. Bxb6+ — bishop to b6 (capture) with check
- Kc8 — king to c8
- 26. Qe6+ — queen to e6 with check
- Kb8 — king to b8
- 27. Nd7+ — knight to d7 with check
- Kb7 — king to b7
- 28. Nxf8 — knight to f8 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
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.
Win the pinned piece
The pinned piece cannot run — attack it again and win it.
A pinned piece cannot flee, which means you can win it outright by attacking it one more time. Count attackers against defenders: if you outnumber them, the piece is yours. The best extra attacker is a pawn, since it costs less than anything it might capture. Do not rush the capture — build up the pressure first, then harvest.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #628.
SP-628 · ThroneScout — A knight starts on the edge (a/h) and the king sits centrally on d or e; the mirror twin stays in this family too.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on a1 and g1, the queen on f1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
The bishops stand on b1 and c1; their long diagonals reach h7 and h6 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 238.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 18 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +38 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #628Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 013 · SP-628
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