Winning blow: rook to h7 (g7·3)
c9-13504naming 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 d1, rook a1 g7, bishop b3 f6, pawn a2 g2 e3 h3 d4 f4.
Black: king f8, rook a5 e8, bishop d6 h7, knight e7, pawn b4 d5 f5 a6 b6.
11 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 26.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (22 against 24; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d1, the black king on f8.
It is White to move on move 26, with 29 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b.
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
26. Rxh7 Kg8 27. Bxe7 Bxe7 28. Rh5 Rc8 29. Rxf5
Why it works
- Great move! rook to h7 keeps the pressure (+4.1).
- Spot on — bishop to e7 (+4.1).
- A natural move: rook to h5.
- Best move. rook to f5 is exactly what the engine plays (+4.5).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Kg8, then Bxe7 and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 26. Rxh7 — rook to h7 (capture)
- Kg8 — king to g8
- 27. Bxe7 — bishop to e7 (capture)
- Bxe7 — bishop to e7 (capture)
- 28. Rh5 — rook to h5
- Rc8 — rook to c8
- 29. Rxf5 — rook to f5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
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 #884.
SP-884 · ThroneScout — The king starts on d or e while at least one knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on a1 and f1, the queen on d1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
The bishops stand on b1 and c1; their long diagonals reach h7 and h6 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: g2, h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 78.
The engine's main line opens with c3.
Morozov Balance Index: 80 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +17 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #884Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-884
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