Winning blow: king to e2 (e1·20)
c9-12597naming 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 2060 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
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 e1, queen g8, rook a1, bishop a2, pawn b2 d3 g3.
Black: king h6, rook f6, knight c8, pawn a5 g5 b7 c7.
7 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 27.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 8 points of material (20 against 12; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on e1, the black king on h6.
It is White to move on move 27, with 30 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e, f, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, c.
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
27. Ke2 Kh5 28. Qxc8 g4 29. Rh1+
Why it works
- Sensible development: king to e2.
- Spot on — queen to c8 (#4).
- Precise: rook to h1 is the top choice (#4).
- You win a piece — the knight.
- If instead Kh5, then Qh8+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 27. Ke2 — king to e2
Types in this puzzle
Quiet move
No check, no capture — yet this modest move decides the game.
A quiet move gives no check and takes nothing — yet it decides the game by creating an unstoppable threat or stealing the king's last square. This is the hardest class of moves: the eye hunts for loud blows while a modest shift does the winning. The clue: every forcing try runs into a defense, so seek the move that strengthens the threat or takes squares away. Train yourself to ask: what if I neither capture nor check, but quietly improve?
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #424.
SP-424 · RampartGuard — Both knights begin on inner files while the king sits on the wing (b/g); mirror twins stay together in this family.
The king starts on g1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on d1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: b2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 733.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 42 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +23 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
In 50 self-play games White scored 56.0% (95% CI 42.3–68.8%).
Explore position #424Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 015 · SP-424
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