Winning blow: rook to d4 (a4·2)
c9-12879naming 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 1470 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 c1, queen e7, rook a4, pawn b2 h2 c3 e4 a5.
Black: king c6, rook f3 b8, bishop g8, pawn g5 a6 b7 h7.
8 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 28.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 2 points of material (19 against 17; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on c1, the black king on c6.
It is White to move on move 28, with 33 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: g.
The White king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
28. Rd4 Rf1+ 29. Kd2 Rf2+ 30. Ke3
Why it works
- Great move! rook to d4 keeps the pressure (#7).
- king to d2 develops smoothly.
- A natural move: king to e3.
- You win decisive material (+15.0).
- If instead Rf1+, then Kd2 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 28. Rd4 — rook to d4
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 #812.
SP-812 · BastionScout — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, and a knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on a1 and f1, the queen on d1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
The bishops stand on b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- and f-pawns step aside.
The pawn on b2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 156.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 40 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +29 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #812Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-812
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