Winning blow: king to c1 (d1·18)
c9-13491naming tag (square·N)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 1870 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
White to move — find the best continuation
Position on the board
White: king d1, queen f4, rook f2, bishop b4, knight e6, pawn a2 b2 g2 h2 e4.
Black: king g8, rook c1 h8, pawn d3 f5 h6 a7 g7.
10 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 30.
Solution & explanation
Main line
30. Kxc1 d2+ 31. Kxd2 g6 32. Qc7
Why it works
- Best move. king to c1 is exactly what the engine plays (#4).
- Spot on — king to d2 (#3).
- A natural move: queen to c7.
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead g6, then Qb8+ and you win the rook.
Types in this puzzle
Hanging piece
A piece is left without protection — just take it.
A hanging piece is simply an unprotected piece you can take for free. It sounds primitive, yet most amateur games are decided exactly this way. Build the habit: before every move, sweep the board and note every undefended piece, yours and theirs. The classic mistake is hunting for a brilliant combination when all you need to do is bend down and pick up the gift.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #248.
SP-248 · ThroneScout — The king starts on d or e while at least one knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and h1, the queen on f1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: b2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 621.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 31 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +32 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #248Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 014 · SP-248
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