Winning blow: knight to f6 (e4·10)
c9-14885naming 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 1110 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 b1, rook g1, bishop f4, knight e4, pawn c2 a3 b4 e6.
Black: king a7, rook g8, bishop c8, knight g6, pawn d5 a6 b6.
8 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 40.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (15 against 14; 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 a7.
It is White to move on move 40, with 38 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): f, g, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d.
The White king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
40. Nf6 Bxe6 41. Nxg8
Why it works
- Great move! knight to f6 keeps the pressure (+4.4).
- Spot on — knight to g8 (+4.6).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Bxe6, then Nxg8 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 40. Nf6 — knight to f6
- Bxe6 — bishop to e6 (capture)
- 41. Nxg8 — knight to g8 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Quiet move
No check, no capture — yet this modest move decides the game.
A quiet move gives no check and takes nothing — yet it decides the game by creating an unstoppable threat or stealing the king's last square. This is the hardest class of moves: the eye hunts for loud blows while a modest shift does the winning. The clue: every forcing try runs into a defense, so seek the move that strengthens the threat or takes squares away. Train yourself to ask: what if I neither capture nor check, but quietly improve?
Endgame tactic
Tactics live in the endgame too — strike while material is scarce.
Tactics do not retire when the queens come off: forks, pins and double attacks live on in the endgame. With so little material left, every tactical loss is almost always decisive. The signs are the usual ones — undefended pieces, king and piece on one line, a pawn about to promote. Even in a "technical" ending, scan for a shot before every move, both yours and your opponent's.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #337.
SP-337 · ThroneScout — A central king (d or e), but with a knight posted out on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on f1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
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, h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 331.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 47 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +27 centipawns for White (depth 51, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #337Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 007 · SP-337
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