Winning blow: bishop to e3 (a7)
c9-15593naming 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 g3, queen e8, rook d2, bishop a7, pawn h3 f4.
Black: king c8, queen c3, knight d8, pawn a3 b4 b5 g6 h7.
6 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 40.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 2 points of material (19 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 g3, the black king on c8.
It is White to move on move 40, with 8 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 2 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, b, g.
The White king has 5 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
40. Be3 Qc7 41. Qxb5 Nc6 42. Rc2
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to e3 keeps the pressure (+5.8).
- Spot on — queen to b5 (+5.7).
- Precise: rook to c2 is the top choice (+5.4).
- You win decisive material (+5.4).
- If instead Qc7, then Qxb5 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 40. Be3 — bishop to e3
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 #271.
SP-271 · BastionScout — A c- or f-file king with at least one knight out on the edge.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on e1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
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 BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 592.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 10 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +43 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #271Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 005 · SP-271
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads