Winning blow: knight to f5 (h6·4)
c9-13109naming 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 1510 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 h1, queen h4, rook e1 d8, bishop b3, knight c1 h6, pawn a2 h3.
Black: king g7, queen c3, bishop b5, knight f4, pawn e4 b6 e6 g6.
9 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 33.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 11 points of material (30 against 19; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on h1, the black king on g7.
It is White to move on move 33, with 44 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 2 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, e, 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
33. Nf5+ gxf5 34. Qh8+ Kf7 35. Qf8+
Why it works
- Best move. knight to f5 is exactly what the engine plays (#4).
- Spot on — queen to h8 (#5).
- Precise: queen to f8 is the top choice (#4).
- You win decisive material (+15.0).
- If instead gxf5, then Rg1+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 33. Nf5+ — knight to f5 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 #26.
SP-26 · RampartScout — The king starts on b or g while a knight begins on the a- or h-file — the smallest family.
The king starts on g1, the rooks on d1 and h1, the queen on b1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
The bishops stand on e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 933.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 21 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +36 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #26Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-26
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