Winning blow: rook to f8 (f7·8)
c9-14294naming 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 2100 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
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 b1, queen c1, rook f7, bishop a3, knight e3 e6, pawn h2 a4 g4 b5 e5.
Black: king e8, queen c5, bishop a8 b8, pawn d2 h4 b6 g6 a7.
11 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 29.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 8 points of material (28 against 20; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b1, the black king on e8.
It is White to move on move 29, with 49 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
29. Rf8+ Kd7 30. Nxc5+ Ke7 31. Qxd2
Why it works
- Great move! rook to f8 keeps the pressure (#4).
- Spot on — knight to c5 (#3).
- Precise: queen to d2 is the top choice (#4).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Ke7, then Bxc5+ and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 29. Rf8+ — rook to f8 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 #800.
SP-800 · 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 g1, the queen on e1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 159.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 31 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +32 centipawns for White (depth 41, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #800Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 015 · SP-800
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