Winning blow: queen to d7 (d4)
c9-15137naming 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 b1, queen d4, rook a1, bishop d1 g1, pawn b2.
Black: king b8, queen h3, rook b6, bishop c7 d7, pawn d3 g5 c6 e6.
6 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 31.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 3 points of material (21 against 24; 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 b8.
It is White to move on move 31, with 41 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 1 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, f, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, d, e, g.
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
31. Qxd7 Rxb2+ 32. Kxb2
Why it works
- Great move! queen to d7 keeps the pressure (+6.9).
- Well found: king to b2 (+7.5).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Rxb2+, then Kxb2 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 31. Qxd7 — queen to d7 (capture)
- Rxb2+ — rook to b2 (capture) with check
- 32. Kxb2 — king to b2 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Discovered attack
A piece steps aside and opens a second attack from the piece behind it.
A discovered attack works like a curtain: one piece steps off the line and unveils the long-range piece behind it. The beauty is that the moving piece can create a second threat of its own — two attacks in one move. Look for your stacked pairs: a bishop or rook behind a knight or pawn, aimed through them at something valuable. Send the front piece to the most aggressive square — a discovery without a second threat wastes half its power.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #853.
SP-853 · RampartGuard — The king starts out on a wing file, b or g, with neither knight in a corner.
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and f1, the queen on h1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 106.
The engine's main line opens with a4.
Morozov Balance Index: 59 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +24 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #853Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 004 · SP-853
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