Winning blow: rook to b3 (d3)
c9-15844naming 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 1060 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 b1, queen a5, rook d3, bishop f4, pawn b2 c2 g3 a4.
Black: king b7, queen g7, rook c4 c8, bishop d4, pawn d6 h7.
8 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 29.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 3 points of material (21 against 24; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b1, the black king on b7.
It is White to move on move 29, with 39 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 2. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d, h.
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
29. Rb3+ Kc6 30. Qb5+ Kc7 31. Qxc4+
Why it works
- Great move! rook to b3 keeps the pressure (+6.0).
- Well found: queen to b5 (+6.2).
- Precise: queen to c4 is the top choice (+6.0).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Kc6, then Qb5+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 29. Rb3+ — rook to b3 with check
- Kc6 — king to c6
- 30. Qb5+ — queen to b5 with check
- Kc7 — king to c7
- 31. Qxc4+ — queen to c4 (capture) with check
Types in this puzzle
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
Check chase
Every move is a check — the king is chased into losing ground.
In a check chase every one of your moves is a check, so the opponent never gets a free second. The king is herded across the board until it loses a piece or walks into a decisive blow. Such lines are the easiest to calculate: each check allows only a handful of replies, so try them all. Make it a habit to start calculating any sharp position with the checks — they are the most forcing moves on the board.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #950.
SP-950 · RampartGuard — A b- or g-file king and two knights on inner files (b–g).
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and d1, the queen on h1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: f2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 6.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 8 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +45 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #950Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 006 · SP-950
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