Winning blow: rook to b5 (b1·3)
c9-13002naming 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 1200 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 e1, queen a1, rook b1 g1, bishop c1 f1, knight c4 f5, pawn f2 g2 h2 c3 d3 e4.
Black: king g8, queen c6, rook b5 e8, bishop d6 c8, knight e6 h8, pawn a4 e5 f6 a7 c7 d7 g7 h7.
14 white and 16 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 11.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (37 against 39; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on e1, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 11, with 43 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 8. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a.
The White king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
11. Rxb5 Qxb5 12. Nfxd6 cxd6 13. Nxd6 Qa5 14. Nxe8
Why it works
- Brilliant! The rook on b5 is a sacrifice that works — you stand better (+2.9).
- Spot on — knight to d6 (+3.1).
- Strong! knight to d6 is the sharp choice (+2.8).
- Great move! knight to e8 keeps the pressure (+3.5).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Qxb5, then Nfxd6 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 11. Rxb5 — rook to b5 (capture)
- Qxb5 — queen to b5 (capture)
- 12. Nfxd6 — knight to d6 (capture)
- cxd6 — pawn to d6 (capture)
- 13. Nxd6 — knight to d6 (capture)
- Qa5 — queen to a5
- 14. Nxe8 — knight to e8 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Knight fork
One knight move attacks two targets at once — the opponent can only save one.
A fork is one move that attacks two targets at once, and no piece forks better than the knight. Look through the knight's eyes: it jumps in an L and never moves along straight lines, which is exactly why its threats get missed. Both victims of a knight fork always stand on squares of one color, while the knight strikes from the opposite color. Hunt for the square from which the knight hits the king and a heavy piece at once.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
Winning exchange
A forced series of captures on one square ends in your favour.
A winning exchange is a forced series of captures on one square that leaves you ahead in material. It is pure arithmetic: count the attackers and defenders of the square and note the value of every piece in the queue. Capture in the right order — cheap pieces first, expensive ones later — or a winning trade turns into a losing one. The classic error is stopping the count halfway and missing the opponent's final recapture.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #582.
SP-582 · ThroneScout — King on a central file (d/e) with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
The king starts on e1, the rooks on b1 and g1, the queen on a1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
The bishops stand on c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: c2, h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 278.
The engine's main line opens with b3.
Morozov Balance Index: 26 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +34 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #582Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-582
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