Winning blow: pawn to f4 (f3·2)
c9-15215naming 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 970 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 e3, rook h1 a5, bishop f2, knight d3 a4, pawn b2 e2 f3.
Black: king d7, rook c4 g8, bishop g5 f7, pawn b4 e5 d6.
9 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 34.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 3 points of material (22 against 19; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on e3, the black king on d7.
It is White to move on move 34, with 2 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle. White are in check right now, so every reply must answer the check.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, c, g, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 0 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
34. f4 Rxf4 35. Nxf4 Bxf4+ 36. Kd3
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to f4 keeps the pressure (+3.5).
- Spot on — knight to f4 (+3.5).
- A natural move: king to d3.
- You reach a winning position (+3.5).
- If instead Bxf4+, then Kf3 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 34. f4 — pawn to f4
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.
Blocking save
Block the check with tempo — and turn the game around.
The blocking save: you interpose a piece against the check — not passively, but with tempo, so the blocker creates a threat of its own. Such a block turns defense into attack. Whenever you are checked, compare all three replies — capture, move the king, interpose — and among the interpositions hunt for the one that counterattacks. The mistake is automatically stepping aside with the king when an active block would have turned the game around.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #525.
SP-525 · ThroneGuard — Both knights start on inner files (b–g) while the king sits centrally on d or e — one of 204 positions filed here.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on c1.
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 d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: g2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 536.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 37 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +30 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #525Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 005 · SP-525
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