Winning blow: queen to a5 (a2·3)
c9-15383naming 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 1280 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 d2, queen a2, rook e1 f7, bishop h1, knight e3, pawn b2 h2 c3.
Black: king c7, knight f4, pawn f5 c6 b7 d7 e7 h7.
9 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 20.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 19 points of material (28 against 9; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d2, the black king on c7.
It is White to move on move 20, with 46 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d, e, f.
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
20. Qa5+ b6 21. Qa7+ Kd6 22. Nc4+
Why it works
- Best move. queen to a5 is exactly what the engine plays (#4).
- Spot on — queen to a7 (#3).
- Precise: knight to c4 is the top choice (#2).
- You win decisive material (+15.0).
- If instead b6, then Qa7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 20. Qa5+ — queen to a5 with check
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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #335.
SP-335 · ThroneScout — King in the middle of the rank, with a knight already committed to the corner.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on b1 and e1, 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.
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: a2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 336.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 20 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +37 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #335Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-335
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