Attack on the uncastled king: queen to g8 (g7·3)
c9-15401naming 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.
Mate: a forcing sequence that ends the game — the king has no escape.
Mate in 4: a forced checkmate in four moves — every reply is covered.
Uncastled king: the enemy king is stuck in the centre — punish it before it castles.
Difficulty 2120 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
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 is a forced mating attack. Start from the enemy king: which of its squares are already covered, and which move takes away the rest while keeping the king in check? Forcing moves — checks and captures — are what turn an attack into mate.
A mate in four is a longer forced net: each of your moves is a check or an irresistible threat, and the king is driven step by step to a square where it is finally trapped. Verify that the defender has exactly one reply at every branch.
An uncastled king in the centre is a standing target. Look for ways to open the central files and diagonals against it with checks and threats before it can shelter — every tempo the king spends in the middle is a chance for a combination.
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 e1, queen g7, rook c1 h1, bishop g6, knight e2 g3, pawn a2 d2 f2 h2 b3 c4.
Black: king e8, queen e7, rook c8 g8, bishop g2 b8, pawn b5 f6 a7 c7 d7 f7 h7.
13 white and 13 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 10.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 2 points of material (34 against 32; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on e1, the black king on e8.
It is White to move on move 10, with 39 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 7. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
10. Qxg8+ Qf8 11. Bxf7+ Ke7 12. Nf5+ Kd8 13. Qxf8#
Why it works
- Great move! queen to g8 keeps the pressure (#3).
- Well found: bishop to f7 (#2).
- Strong! knight to f5 is the sharp choice (#1).
- Great move! queen to f8 keeps the pressure (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 4.
- If instead Qf8, then Bxf7+ and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 10. Qxg8+ — queen to g8 (capture) with check
- Qf8 — queen to f8
- 11. Bxf7+ — bishop to f7 (capture) with check
- Ke7 — king to e7
- 12. Nf5+ — knight to f5 with check
- Kd8 — king to d8
- 13. Qxf8# — queen to f8 (capture) and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Mate in 4+
A long forced mating combination.
Mate in four or longer is a marathon of forcing moves where the grip must never loosen. The tools are the same: checks, double threats and sacrifices that deny the opponent a single free tempo. Do not juggle the whole tree at once — walk the main line all the way to mate first, then verify the side branches. If somewhere the defender finds one quiet move that holds, your very first move was wrong.
King in the center
The king starts in the middle — and the storm reaches it first.
King in the center: in Chess960 the monarch may start on the d- or e-file, right in the line of fire, and the attack can reach him before he ever castles. The signs: the enemy king still sits on its central starting square while the files toward it are opening. Play to rip the center open — a pawn sacrifice usually pays off here. And if it is your king in the middle, castle at the very first opportunity.
Win the pinned piece
The pinned piece cannot run — attack it again and win it.
A pinned piece cannot flee, which means you can win it outright by attacking it one more time. Count attackers against defenders: if you outnumber them, the piece is yours. The best extra attacker is a pawn, since it costs less than anything it might capture. Do not rush the capture — build up the pressure first, then harvest.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #688.
SP-688 · ThroneGuard — A centre-file king with no knight on the edge; a position and its mirror twin always share this family.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on c1 and h1, the queen on d1.
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 a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
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 463.
The engine's main line opens with b3.
Morozov Balance Index: 34 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +31 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #688Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 015 · SP-688
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads