Chess960 tactic on g5 (f5)
c9-12793naming 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.
Mate: a forcing sequence that ends the game — the king has no escape.
Mate in 4: a forced checkmate in four moves — every reply is covered.
Difficulty 2120 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 is a forced mating attack. Start from the enemy king: which of its squares are already covered, and which move takes away the rest while keeping the king in check? Forcing moves — checks and captures — are what turn an attack into mate.
A mate in four is a longer forced net: each of your moves is a check or an irresistible threat, and the king is driven step by step to a square where it is finally trapped. Verify that the defender has exactly one reply at every branch.
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 c2, queen f5, rook b1, bishop g1 c6, pawn a2 e2 h2 d4 b5.
Black: king g7, knight g5.
10 white and 2 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 35.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 22 points of material (25 against 3; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on c2, the black king on g7.
It is White to move on move 35, with 54 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 0. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, f, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 7 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
35. Qxg5+ Kh7 36. b6 Kh8 37. Qh6+ Kg8 38. Bd5#
Why it works
- Best move. queen to g5 is exactly what the engine plays (#2).
- pawn to b6 develops smoothly.
- Precise: queen to h6 is the top choice (#1).
- Best move. bishop to d5 is exactly what the engine plays (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 4.
- If instead Kh7, then b6 and you win the knight.
Move by move
- 35. Qxg5+ — queen to g5 (capture) with check
- Kh7 — king to h7
- 36. b6 — pawn to b6
- Kh8 — king to h8
- 37. Qh6+ — queen to h6 with check
- Kg8 — king to g8
- 38. Bd5# — bishop to d5 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Mate in 4+
A long forced mating combination.
Mate in four or longer is a marathon of forcing moves where the grip must never loosen. The tools are the same: checks, double threats and sacrifices that deny the opponent a single free tempo. Do not juggle the whole tree at once — walk the main line all the way to mate first, then verify the side branches. If somewhere the defender finds one quiet move that holds, your very first move was wrong.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #331.
SP-331 · ThroneScout — A central king (d or e), but with a knight posted out on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on c1.
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 second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 337.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 40 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +29 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #331Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 015 · SP-331
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