Winning blow: king to g1 (h1·11)
c9-15871naming 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 2060 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 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 h1, queen e5, rook f1, bishop g4, knight d5, pawn c2 g2 a3 b3 h4.
Black: king e8, rook a8 g8, bishop f7, knight g3, pawn g5 b6 h6 b7 e7.
10 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 28.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 4 points of material (25 against 21; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on h1, the black king on e8.
It is White to move on move 28, with 3 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 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: e.
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
28. Kg1 Nf5 29. Bxf5 Bxd5 30. Qxd5
Why it works
- Great move! king to g1 keeps the pressure (#5).
- Spot on — bishop to f5 (#5).
- Precise: queen to d5 is the top choice (#4).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Nf5, then Rxf5 and you win the knight.
Move by move
- 28. Kg1 — king to g1
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 #445.
SP-445 · BastionGuard — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, with neither knight in a corner.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on e1.
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.
The bishops stand on d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: b2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 712.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 93 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +11 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #445Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 015 · SP-445
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads