Winning blow: queen to d5 (f5)
c9-16022naming 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 1200 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 d2, queen f5, pawn d4 h4 a6 g7.
Black: king d8, queen d5, rook g3 b4, pawn a7 c7.
6 white and 6 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 40.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 8 points of material (13 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 d2, the black king on d8.
It is White to move on move 40, with 32 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): b, e, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c.
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. Qxd5+ Kc8 41. Qe5 Rb2+ 42. Kc1 Rg1+ 43. Kxb2
Why it works
- Great move! queen to d5 keeps the pressure (+6.8).
- queen to e5 develops smoothly.
- Strong! king to c1 is the sharp choice (+9.1).
- Great move! king to b2 keeps the pressure (#19).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kc8, then Qe5 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 40. Qxd5+ — queen to d5 (capture) with check
- Kc8 — king to c8
- 41. Qe5 — queen to e5
- Rb2+ — rook to b2 with check
- 42. Kc1 — king to c1
- Rg1+ — rook to g1 with check
- 43. Kxb2 — king to b2 (capture)
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.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #846.
SP-846 · RampartScout — King on the wing (b/g) with a knight on the rim (a/h) — the rarest family.
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and d1, the queen on e1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
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 b2, c2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 116.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 65 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +22 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #846Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-846
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