Winning blow: bishop to e5 (g3·2)
c9-16019naming 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 920 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 c4, rook b1, bishop g3 b5, pawn d2 g2 h4 d5.
Black: king c7, rook e5, bishop d6, knight b4, pawn d4 c5 h5 g6 d7.
8 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 34.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (15 against 16; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on c4, the black king on c7.
It is White to move on move 34, with 21 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, b, e, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 1 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
34. Bxe5 Bxe5 35. Kxc5
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to e5 keeps the pressure (+4.9).
- Well found: king to c5 (+5.0).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Bxe5, then Kxc5 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 34. Bxe5 — bishop to e5 (capture)
- Bxe5 — bishop to e5 (capture)
- 35. Kxc5 — king to c5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Overload
One defender guards two things — it cannot do both jobs.
Overloading exploits a defender with two jobs at once — guarding a piece and covering a mating square, for instance. It cannot do both: your first strike forces it to handle one duty and abandon the other. Find the overworked piece by asking what happens to each of its charges if it gets distracted. Then hit one target and collect the other — an overloaded defender only pretends to defend.
Endgame tactic
Tactics live in the endgame too — strike while material is scarce.
Tactics do not retire when the queens come off: forks, pins and double attacks live on in the endgame. With so little material left, every tactical loss is almost always decisive. The signs are the usual ones — undefended pieces, king and piece on one line, a pawn about to promote. Even in a "technical" ending, scan for a shot before every move, both yours and your opponent's.
X-ray
A long-range piece acts through an enemy piece on the same line.
An X-ray lets a long-range piece act through an enemy piece standing on the same line — its power shines straight through. The square behind looks safe or defended, and that illusion is exactly what the tactic exploits. Check your rooks, bishops and queens: is a key square or a target hiding behind an enemy piece on their line? When counting captures on a square, include the X-ray attackers — they join the fight the moment the line opens.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #494.
SP-494 · ThroneGuard — The king starts in the middle of the back rank, on d or e, and neither knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on b1 and h1, the queen on a1.
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 f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
The pawn on d2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 564.
The engine's main line opens with g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 28 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +33 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #494Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 004 · SP-494
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