Chess960 tactic on e7 (e1·3)
c9-16069naming 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.
Mate: a forcing sequence that ends the game — the king has no escape.
Mate in 4: a forced checkmate in four moves — every reply is covered.
Difficulty 2250 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 is a forced mating attack. Start from the enemy king: which of its squares are already covered, and which move takes away the rest while keeping the king in check? Forcing moves — checks and captures — are what turn an attack into mate.
A mate in four is a longer forced net: each of your moves is a check or an irresistible threat, and the king is driven step by step to a square where it is finally trapped. Verify that the defender has exactly one reply at every branch.
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 g1, rook e1 f2, bishop c2, pawn g2 h2 f3 a4 b5 d7.
Black: king g7, bishop e7, pawn h3 f4 a5 b6 g6 c7.
10 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 37.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 10 points of material (19 against 9; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g1, the black king on g7.
It is White to move on move 37, with 30 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c.
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
37. Rxe7+ Kf6 38. d8=Q hxg2 39. Rh7+ Ke5 40. Re2#
Why it works
- Great move! rook to e7 keeps the pressure (#3).
- pawn to d8 develops smoothly.
- Precise: rook to h7 is the top choice (#1).
- Best move. rook to e2 is exactly what the engine plays (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 4.
- If instead Kf6, then d8=Q and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 37. Rxe7+ — rook to e7 (capture) with check
- Kf6 — king to f6
- 38. d8=Q — pawn to d8
- hxg2 — pawn to g2 (capture)
- 39. Rh7+ — rook to h7 with check
- Ke5 — king to e5
- 40. Re2# — rook to e2 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Ladder mate
Two heavy pieces climb line by line, cutting off every retreat.
The ladder mate uses two heavy pieces climbing rung by rung: one cuts the king off along a line, the other checks on the next line, driving him toward the edge. It is the classic two-rook technique — check, the king retreats one rank, the other rook checks, until mate on the last rank. The only danger is the king creeping close enough to attack one of your rooks. If it does, simply slide that rook to the far side of the same line.
Mate in 4+
A long forced mating combination.
Mate in four or longer is a marathon of forcing moves where the grip must never loosen. The tools are the same: checks, double threats and sacrifices that deny the opponent a single free tempo. Do not juggle the whole tree at once — walk the main line all the way to mate first, then verify the side branches. If somewhere the defender finds one quiet move that holds, your very first move was wrong.
Passed pawn
Nothing can stop the passer — escort it to the last rank.
A passed pawn has no enemy pawns in front of it or on the neighboring files: only pieces can stop it. Check who can blockade the pawn or catch it with the king — if nobody can, the pawn is worth a whole piece. Push the passer with your pieces supporting it, and put your rook behind it. The beginner's mistake is shoving the pawn forward unprotected, straight into a capture.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #1.
SP-1 · RampartGuard — The king starts out on a wing file, b or g, with neither knight in a corner.
The king starts on g1, the rooks on f1 and h1, the queen on b1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: d2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 955.
The engine's main line opens with h4.
Morozov Balance Index: 75 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +19 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #1Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 015 · SP-1
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