Chess960 tactic on g7 (g4·3)
c9-15557naming 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.
Difficulty 2400 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.
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 g1, queen e6, rook e1 g4, bishop d2, pawn b2 h2 a3 c3.
Black: king e8, rook b8, bishop g7, knight e5, pawn a4 f4 b5 c5 d6 e7.
9 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 34.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 9 points of material (26 against 17; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g1, the black king on e8.
It is White to move on move 34, with 43 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d, e, f.
The White king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
34. Rxg7 Nf3+ 35. Kf2 Kd8 36. Qxe7+ Kc8 37. Qe8#
Why it works
- Best move. rook to g7 is exactly what the engine plays (#3).
- king to f2 develops smoothly.
- Precise: queen to e7 is the top choice (#1).
- Best move. queen to e8 is exactly what the engine plays (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 4.
- If instead Nf3+, then Kf2 and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 34. Rxg7 — rook to g7 (capture)
- Nf3+ — knight to f3 with check
- 35. Kf2 — king to f2
- Kd8 — king to d8
- 36. Qxe7+ — queen to e7 (capture) with check
- Kc8 — king to c8
- 37. Qe8# — queen to e8 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Ladder mate
Two heavy pieces climb line by line, cutting off every retreat.
The ladder mate uses two heavy pieces climbing rung by rung: one cuts the king off along a line, the other checks on the next line, driving him toward the edge. It is the classic two-rook technique — check, the king retreats one rank, the other rook checks, until mate on the last rank. The only danger is the king creeping close enough to attack one of your rooks. If it does, simply slide that rook to the far side of the same line.
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.
Absolute pin
A piece is pinned against its king — it cannot legally move.
An absolute pin freezes a piece on the line between its own king and your long-range attacker: moving it is simply illegal. The pattern is three units on one straight line — your bishop, rook or queen, an enemy piece, and the enemy king behind it. A pinned piece neither attacks nor defends anything: treat it as if it were off the board. Pile up on it, ideally with a pawn, because running away is against the rules.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #155.
SP-155 · BastionScout — King shifted to c or f, with a knight committed to the corner from move one.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on b1 and g1, the queen on d1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 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 BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 801.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 89 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +14 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #155Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 015 · SP-155
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