Winning blow: bishop to a5 (d2·2)
c9-14626naming 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 1010 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 b2, queen a7, bishop f1 d2, knight f3, pawn f2 g2 d3 c4 e4 h4 b5.
Black: king c7, rook d8, bishop e8 f8, knight d4 b7, pawn e5 h5 d6 f7.
12 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 26.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 4 points of material (25 against 21; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b2, the black king on c7.
It is White to move on move 26, with 38 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
The White king has 6 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
26. Ba5+ Kc8 27. Qa8+ Kd7 28. Qxb7+
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to a5 keeps the pressure (#9).
- Spot on — queen to a8 (#8).
- Strong! queen to b7 is the sharp choice (#6).
- You win a piece — the knight.
- If instead Kc8, then Qa8+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 26. Ba5+ — bishop to a5 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 #890.
SP-890 · BastionScout — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, and a knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on a1 and d1, the queen on b1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
The bishops stand on e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 69.
The engine's main line opens with e3.
Morozov Balance Index: 83 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +16 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #890Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 006 · SP-890
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