Winning blow: rook to f8 (c8·4)
c9-13439naming 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 1280 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, queen b7, rook a1 c8, knight f1 d3, pawn d2 h2 b3 c3 f4 g4.
Black: king e6, queen d6, rook f8, knight f7, pawn c5 f5 h5 g6.
12 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 24.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 10 points of material (31 against 21; 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 e6.
It is White to move on move 24, with 56 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
The White king has 5 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
24. Rxf8 Qxf8 25. Ra6+ Qd6 26. Nxc5+
Why it works
- Best move. rook to f8 is exactly what the engine plays (#7).
- Spot on — rook to a6 (#6).
- Precise: knight to c5 is the top choice (#5).
- You win decisive material (+15.0).
- If instead Qxf8, then g5 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 24. Rxf8 — rook to f8 (capture)
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.
Counter-strike
Don't defend — answer the threat with a bigger one.
The counter-strike: instead of defending against the threat, you answer with a bigger threat of your own. While your opponent grabs a pawn, you deliver mate — the arithmetic favors you. Look for a counter when direct defenses fail: do you have a check, an attack on the queen, a mating threat? The beginner's error is meeting every threat with a reflexive defense without checking the counterattacking resources first.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #851.
SP-851 · BastionGuard — Off-centre king (c/f), no knight on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and e1, the queen on g1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 99.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 80 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +17 centipawns for White (depth 42, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #851Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-851
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