Winning blow: rook to c6 (c4·3)
c9-14335naming 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 1930 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
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 c2, rook c4, pawn h2 b3 e3 g3 a4.
Black: king b6, queen e5, rook d5, pawn e4 a5 g6 e7 h7.
8 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 28.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 19 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on b1, the black king on b6.
It is White to move on move 28, with 25 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, d, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
The White king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
28. Rc6+ Kb7 29. Qc4 Rd1+ 30. Kc2 Rc1+ 31. Kxc1
Why it works
- Great move! rook to c6 keeps the pressure (+5.9).
- Well found: queen to c4 (+8.2).
- Strong! king to c2 is the sharp choice (+8.4).
- Great move! king to c1 keeps the pressure (+8.7).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Kb7, then Qc4 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 28. Rc6+ — rook to c6 with check
- Kb7 — king to b7
- 29. Qc4 — queen to c4
- Rd1+ — rook to d1 with check
- 30. Kc2 — king to c2
- Rc1+ — rook to c1 with check
- 31. Kxc1 — king to c1 (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 #947.
SP-947 · BastionGuard — Off-centre king (c/f), no knight on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and d1, the queen on g1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, e2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 3.
The engine's main line opens with g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 31 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +32 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #947Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 014 · SP-947
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