Winning blow: queen to b7 (e4·5)
c9-12860naming 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 1870 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 g1, queen e4, rook e1, bishop e5 h7, pawn g2 b3 f3 h3.
Black: king d7, queen c2, rook f2, knight h8, pawn b5 g6 a7.
9 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 30.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 4 points of material (24 against 20; 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 d7.
It is White to move on move 30, with 46 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
30. Qb7+ Ke8 31. Bxh8+ Re2 32. Rxe2+
Why it works
- Best move. queen to b7 is exactly what the engine plays (#5).
- Spot on — bishop to h8 (#4).
- Strong! rook to e2 is the sharp choice (#3).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Ke8, then Bxh8+ and you win the knight.
Move by move
- 30. Qb7+ — queen to b7 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 #868.
SP-868 · 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 d1 and f1, the queen on a1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
The bishops stand on b1 and c1; their long diagonals reach h7 and h6 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: g2, h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 94.
The engine's main line opens with Ng3, bringing the knight out to g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 0 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +75 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
In 50 self-play games White scored 59.0% (95% CI 45.2–71.5%).
Explore position #868Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 014 · SP-868
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads