Winning blow: queen to h6 (h3·4)
c9-13275naming 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 1430 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 f1, queen h3, rook c1 g1, bishop a1 h1, knight g4, pawn a2 e2 g2 b3 d3 c4.
Black: king g7, queen e8, rook c6 f8, bishop a8, knight b8 d8, pawn c5 g5 b6 f6 a7 d7 f7 h7.
13 white and 15 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 15.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (34 against 36; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on f1, the black king on g7.
It is White to move on move 15, with 35 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 8. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: f, h.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
15. Qh6+ Kg8 16. Nxf6+ Rxf6+ 17. Qxf6 Qxe2+ 18. Kxe2
Why it works
- Great move! queen to h6 keeps the pressure (#9).
- Spot on — knight to f6 (#10).
- Strong! queen to f6 is the sharp choice (#9).
- Best move. king to e2 is exactly what the engine plays (#8).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kg8, then Nxf6+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 15. Qh6+ — queen to h6 with check
- Kg8 — king to g8
- 16. Nxf6+ — knight to f6 (capture) with check
- Rxf6+ — rook to f6 (capture) with check
- 17. Qxf6 — queen to f6 (capture)
- Qxe2+ — queen to e2 (capture) with check
- 18. Kxe2 — king to e2 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Absolute pin
A piece is pinned against its king — it cannot legally move.
An absolute pin freezes a piece on the line between its own king and your long-range attacker: moving it is simply illegal. The pattern is three units on one straight line — your bishop, rook or queen, an enemy piece, and the enemy king behind it. A pinned piece neither attacks nor defends anything: treat it as if it were off the board. Pile up on it, ideally with a pawn, because running away is against the rules.
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 #147.
SP-147 · BastionGuard — King shifted to c or f, knights kept clear of the edges — 168 positions in all.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on e1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 803.
The engine's main line opens with g4.
Morozov Balance Index: 16 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +39 centipawns for White (depth 42, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #147Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 010 · SP-147
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