Winning blow: knight to f5 (e7·5)
c9-14157naming 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 1510 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 a1, rook e1 g1, bishop h1, knight b1 e7, pawn a2 e2 f2 h2 b4 b5 e6.
Black: king g7, queen a8, rook f6 f8, bishop c8, knight c7 d8, pawn c6 g6 a7 d7 h7.
14 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 15.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 2 points of material (35 against 33; 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 40 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 5. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: c, d, g.
The White king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
15. Nf5+ Kg8 16. Nh6+ Kg7 17. e7
Why it works
- Great move! knight to f5 keeps the pressure (+7.5).
- Spot on — knight to h6 (+7.6).
- A natural move: pawn to e7.
- You win decisive material (+7.6).
- If instead Kg8, then Nh6+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 15. Nf5+ — knight to f5 with check
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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #7.
SP-7 · BastionGuard — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, with neither knight in a corner.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on e1 and g1, the queen on a1.
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 h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: c2, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 946.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 59 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +24 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #7Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-7
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