Winning blow: queen to g3 (e1·4)
c9-14507naming 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 1200 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 h1, queen e1, rook f4, bishop a1 b3, pawn g2 h2 b4 e4.
Black: king g8, queen c6, rook d8, bishop a8, knight c4 f7, pawn b5 f6 h7.
9 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 27.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (24 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 h1, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 27, with 35 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): a, c, d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: f.
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
27. Qg3+ Kf8 28. Bxf6 Rd2 29. Bc3 Rxg2 30. Kxg2
Why it works
- Great move! queen to g3 keeps the pressure (+4.9).
- Well found: bishop to f6 (+4.9).
- A natural move: bishop to c3.
- Best move. king to g2 is exactly what the engine plays (+4.9).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Kf8, then Bxf6 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 27. Qg3+ — queen to g3 with check
- Kf8 — king to f8
- 28. Bxf6 — bishop to f6 (capture)
- Rd2 — rook to d2
- 29. Bc3 — bishop to c3
- Rxg2 — rook to g2 (capture)
- 30. Kxg2 — king to g2 (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 #881.
SP-881 · ThroneScout — King in the middle of the rank, with a knight already committed to the corner.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on c1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
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 3 pawns with no defender at all: a2, g2, h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 75.
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 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #881Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-881
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads