Winning blow: rook to d5 (d1·9)
c9-13147naming 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 b2, rook d1, bishop e3, pawn f2 h2 c3 g3.
Black: king b7, rook a8, bishop c7, knight d5, pawn a5 b5 h7.
7 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 28.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (12 against 14; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b2, the black king on b7.
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 4 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, b.
The White king has 7 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
28. Rxd5 Kc6 29. Rc5+ Kb6 30. Rh5+ Kc6 31. Rxh7
Why it works
- Great move! rook to d5 keeps the pressure (+2.6).
- Spot on — rook to c5 (+2.9).
- Precise: rook to h5 is the top choice (+2.8).
- Best move. rook to h7 is exactly what the engine plays (+2.6).
- You win a piece — the knight.
- If instead Kc6, then Rc5+ and you win the knight.
Move by move
- 28. Rxd5 — rook to d5 (capture)
- Kc6 — king to c6
- 29. Rc5+ — rook to c5 with check
- Kb6 — king to b6
- 30. Rh5+ — rook to h5 with check
- Kc6 — king to c6
- 31. Rxh7 — rook to h7 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Discovered check
The moving piece opens a check — and is free to grab anything meanwhile.
With a discovered check the moving piece unmasks a check from the piece standing behind it. While the king deals with the check, the piece that moved grabs whatever it likes, free of charge. Look for your long-range piece on a line with the enemy king, with exactly one of your own pieces in between. The rule: among all the ways to step aside, pick the one that captures or attacks the most expensive loot.
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.
Endgame tactic
Tactics live in the endgame too — strike while material is scarce.
Tactics do not retire when the queens come off: forks, pins and double attacks live on in the endgame. With so little material left, every tactical loss is almost always decisive. The signs are the usual ones — undefended pieces, king and piece on one line, a pawn about to promote. Even in a "technical" ending, scan for a shot before every move, both yours and your opponent's.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #950.
SP-950 · RampartGuard — A b- or g-file king and two knights on inner files (b–g).
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and d1, the queen on h1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: f2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 6.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 8 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +45 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #950Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-950
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