Winning blow: queen to e5 (a1·2)
c9-12922naming 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 1010 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 d2, queen a1, rook e1, bishop a5, pawn e2 h2 d3 g3 f4 d5 a6.
Black: king d6, queen a7, knight b8, pawn f5 e6 h7.
11 white and 6 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 33.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 9 points of material (24 against 15; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d2, the black king on d6.
It is White to move on move 33, with 35 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, c — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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
33. Qe5+ Ke7 34. Qg7+ Ke8 35. Qxa7
Why it works
- Best move. queen to e5 is exactly what the engine plays (#7).
- Spot on — queen to g7 (#5).
- Precise: queen to a7 is the top choice (#4).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Ke7, then Qg7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 33. Qe5+ — queen to e5 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 #779.
SP-779 · BastionGuard — Off-centre king (c/f), no knight on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on a1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 177.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 7 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +47 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #779Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 006 · SP-779
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