Winning blow: pawn to d7 (e6·5)
c9-14289naming 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 f1, rook a1 g1, bishop a4 b4, knight h1 a5, pawn a2 h2 e3 e6.
Black: king d8, rook d7, knight h8, pawn a3 g4 h7.
11 white and 6 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 23.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 15 points of material (26 against 11; 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 d8.
It is White to move on move 23, with 37 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, c, d, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: g.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
23. exd7 g3 24. O-O-O Nf7 25. Rgf1
Why it works
- Best move. pawn to d7 is exactly what the engine plays (#3).
- king to c1 develops smoothly.
- A natural move: rook to f1.
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead g3, then Bd6 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 23. exd7 — pawn to d7 (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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #616.
SP-616 · BastionScout — A knight on the a- or h-file, king on c or f — the mirror twin lands here as well.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on a1 and g1, the queen on d1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: b2, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 253.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
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 #616Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-616
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