Winning blow: rook to g7 (g2)
c9-14079naming 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 920 ShuffleRating — for beginners taking their first steps in Chess960 tactics.
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, rook g2 c7, bishop d2 d3, pawn a2 e2 f4 h5 d7.
Black: king h7, queen g7, rook e4 e6, knight f3, pawn b3 b5 f5 h6.
10 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 30.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 5 points of material (21 against 26; 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 h7.
It is White to move on move 30, with 38 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 1 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
30. Rxg7+ Kxg7 31. d8=Q+
Why it works
- Best move. rook to g7 is exactly what the engine plays (#5).
- Spot on — pawn to d8 (#4).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kxg7, then d8=Q+ and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 30. Rxg7+ — rook to g7 (capture) with check
- Kxg7 — king to g7 (capture)
- 31. d8=Q+ — pawn to d8 with check
Types in this puzzle
Discovered check
The moving piece opens a check — and is free to grab anything meanwhile.
With a discovered check the moving piece unmasks a check from the piece standing behind it. While the king deals with the check, the piece that moved grabs whatever it likes, free of charge. Look for your long-range piece on a line with the enemy king, with exactly one of your own pieces in between. The rule: among all the ways to step aside, pick the one that captures or attacks the most expensive loot.
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.
Promotion
The pawn reaches the last rank and becomes a queen — decisively.
Promotion turns a pawn on the last rank into a queen and rewrites the evaluation on the spot. In tactics the passer rarely walks in for free — usually a sacrifice clears its path. Count the tempi: how many moves does the pawn need, and can the defender stop it in time? And watch the promotion square itself — it must be out of enemy reach or won by force in your combination.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #613.
SP-613 · BastionScout — A c- or f-file king with at least one knight out on the edge.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on a1 and g1, the queen on e1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
The bishops stand on c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 250.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 94 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +10 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #613Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 004 · SP-613
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