Winning blow: queen to a8 (g2·2)
c9-12809naming 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 1280 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 g1, queen g2, rook d1, bishop c1, knight h2 g3, pawn a2 e2 f2 b3.
Black: king f8, queen e6, rook h4, knight d6, pawn c5 b6 g6 a7 e7 f7 g7.
10 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 20.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 3 points of material (27 against 24; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g1, the black king on f8.
It is White to move on move 20, with 40 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 7. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, g.
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
20. Qa8+ Ne8 21. Rd8 Qd7 22. Rxd7
Why it works
- Great move! queen to a8 keeps the pressure (#20).
- Well found: rook to d8 (#13).
- Strong! rook to d7 is the sharp choice (#12).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Ne8, then Rd8 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 20. Qa8+ — queen to a8 with check
Types in this puzzle
Winning blow
Find the strike that wins material by force.
A winning blow is a forced material gain that does not fit a single textbook motif. The general tactical recipe applies: spot loose pieces, an awkwardly placed king, overloaded lines. Go through the forcing moves in order of violence — checks, captures, threats — because most combinations start with one of them. Do not judge by feel: calculate the concrete line until the outcome is beyond doubt.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #580.
SP-580 · BastionScout — A knight on the a- or h-file, king on c or f — the mirror twin lands here as well.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on d1 and g1, the queen on a1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
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 BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 286.
The engine's main line opens with Ng3, bringing the knight out to g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 21 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +36 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #580Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-580
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