Winning blow: pawn to b5 (b4·7)
c9-15639naming 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 1870 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
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 g2, rook c1 d7, knight f3 f4, pawn a2 e2 f2 g3 b4 h4.
Black: king a6, bishop a8, pawn f5 b6 a7 h7.
11 white and 6 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 30.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 15 points of material (22 against 7; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g2, the black king on a6.
It is White to move on move 30, with 46 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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
30. b5+ Kxb5 31. Rxa7 Bb7 32. Rxb7
Why it works
- Best move. pawn to b5 is exactly what the engine plays (#6).
- Well found: rook to a7 (#5).
- Precise: rook to b7 is the top choice (#4).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Kxb5, then Rxa7 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 30. b5+ — pawn to b5 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 #864.
SP-864 · ThroneScout — King on a central file (d/e) with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
The king starts on e1, the rooks on d1 and f1, the queen on c1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: g2, h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 95.
The engine's main line opens with Ng3, bringing the knight out to g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 5 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +49 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #864Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 014 · SP-864
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads