Winning blow: queen to a4 (b3·2)
c9-15299naming 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 1060 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 a1, queen b3, rook c1 d2, bishop h1, knight e4, pawn a2 e2 c3 h4 d5.
Black: king b8, queen h7, rook c7 g8, bishop a4, knight c4, pawn f4 a5 e5 h5 b7.
11 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 31.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 30 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on a1, the black king on b8.
It is White to move on move 31, with 34 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, f.
The White king has 1 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
31. Qxa4 Nxd2 32. Nxd2 f3 33. Nxf3
Why it works
- Great move! queen to a4 keeps the pressure (+3.8).
- Well found: knight to d2 (+3.8).
- Precise: knight to f3 is the top choice (+3.8).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Nxd2, then Nxd2 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 31. Qxa4 — queen to a4 (capture)
- Nxd2 — knight to d2 (capture)
- 32. Nxd2 — knight to d2 (capture)
- f3 — pawn to f3
- 33. Nxf3 — knight to f3 (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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #315.
SP-315 · ThroneScout — Centre-file king, rim knight: 204 of the 960 positions share this pattern.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and f1, the queen on b1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 353.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 40 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +29 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #315Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 006 · SP-315
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