Winning blow: bishop to c8 (h3)
c9-13246naming 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 c1, queen f7, rook d1 e1, bishop h3, pawn a2 b2 h2 c3 g3.
Black: king b8, queen e5, rook c8 e8, knight a8, pawn e4 a5 b6 c6 g6 h7.
10 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 21.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (27 against 28; 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 b8.
It is White to move on move 21, with 50 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: e.
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
21. Bxc8 Rxc8 22. Qf4 Qxf4+ 23. gxf4 b5 24. Rxe4
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to c8 keeps the pressure (+4.1).
- queen to f4 develops smoothly.
- Strong! pawn to f4 is the sharp choice (+4.3).
- Best move. rook to e4 is exactly what the engine plays (+4.0).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Rxc8, then Qf4 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 21. Bxc8 — bishop to c8 (capture)
- Rxc8 — rook to c8 (capture)
- 22. Qf4 — queen to f4
- Qxf4+ — queen to f4 (capture) with check
- 23. gxf4 — pawn to f4 (capture)
- b5 — pawn to b5
- 24. Rxe4 — rook to e4 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Overload
One defender guards two things — it cannot do both jobs.
Overloading exploits a defender with two jobs at once — guarding a piece and covering a mating square, for instance. It cannot do both: your first strike forces it to handle one duty and abandon the other. Find the overworked piece by asking what happens to each of its charges if it gets distracted. Then hit one target and collect the other — an overloaded defender only pretends to defend.
Simplification
Trade the heavy pieces and steer into a won endgame.
Simplification is how you convert an advantage: by trading queens and rooks you extinguish the counterplay and steer the game into a won endgame. The rule is simple — the side with extra material trades pieces but keeps pawns. Look for exchanges once the material is already won and your opponent is still rattling threats. The mistake is avoiding the queen trade and letting him muddy the water forever.
Remove the defender
Capture the guard first — then take what it protected.
Removing the defender is the straightforward plan: capture the guard first, then take what it guarded. Unlike deflection, the defender is not lured away — it is traded off or destroyed on the spot. Stare at the target you crave and ask who defends it, and whether that defender can be profitably eaten. Count the whole capture sequence, not just the first move — the trade must pay off at the end.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #191.
SP-191 · ThroneScout — King in the middle of the rank, with a knight already committed to the corner.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on b1 and e1, the queen on f1.
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.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
The pawn on d2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 768.
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 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #191Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-191
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads