Winning blow: pawn to b5 (a4·3)
c9-14946naming 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 920 ShuffleRating — for beginners taking their first steps in Chess960 tactics.
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 g1, queen e1, rook b1 c2, bishop c5, pawn g2 h2 b3 f3 a4 e4.
Black: king h7, queen a8, rook d3 b5, bishop e7, knight b8, pawn e6 h6 f7 g7.
11 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 31.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (28 against 29; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g1, the black king on h7.
It is White to move on move 31, with 45 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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
31. axb5 Bxc5+ 32. Rxc5
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to b5 keeps the pressure (+3.9).
- Well found: rook to c5 (+3.8).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Bxc5+, then Rxc5 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 31. axb5 — pawn to b5 (capture)
- Bxc5+ — bishop to c5 (capture) with check
- 32. Rxc5 — rook to c5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Remove the defender
Capture the guard first — then take what it protected.
Removing the defender is the straightforward plan: capture the guard first, then take what it guarded. Unlike deflection, the defender is not lured away — it is traded off or destroyed on the spot. Stare at the target you crave and ask who defends it, and whether that defender can be profitably eaten. Count the whole capture sequence, not just the first move — the trade must pay off at the end.
Counter-strike
Don't defend — answer the threat with a bigger one.
The counter-strike: instead of defending against the threat, you answer with a bigger threat of your own. While your opponent grabs a pawn, you deliver mate — the arithmetic favors you. Look for a counter when direct defenses fail: do you have a check, an attack on the queen, a mating threat? The beginner's error is meeting every threat with a reflexive defense without checking the counterattacking resources first.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #485.
SP-485 · BastionGuard — Off-centre king (c/f), no knight on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on b1 and h1, the queen on a1.
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.
The bishops stand on c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
The pawn on f2 is defended by the king alone — the classic soft spot of the standard setup.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 570.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 99 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +3 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
In 50 self-play games White scored 51.0% (95% CI 37.6–64.3%).
Explore position #485Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 004 · SP-485
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