Winning blow: rook to c7 (c3·5)
c9-16087naming tag (square·N)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
Position on the board
White: king b2, queen b5, rook c3, pawn d2 e2 a3 h3 f4.
Black: king e8, queen f1, pawn h4 e6 d7.
8 white and 5 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 38.
Solution & explanation
Main line
38. Rc7 Qb1+ 39. Kxb1 Kf7 40. Qxd7+
Why it works
- Sensible development: rook to c7.
- Well found: king to b1 (#3).
- Precise: queen to d7 is the top choice (#2).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qb1+, then Kxb1 and you win the queen.
Types in this puzzle
Quiet move
No check, no capture — yet this modest move decides the game.
A quiet move gives no check and takes nothing — yet it decides the game by creating an unstoppable threat or stealing the king's last square. This is the hardest class of moves: the eye hunts for loud blows while a modest shift does the winning. The clue: every forcing try runs into a defense, so seek the move that strengthens the threat or takes squares away. Train yourself to ask: what if I neither capture nor check, but quietly improve?
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #285.
SP-285 · BastionScout — Off-centre king plus a rim knight (a/h): 168 positions carry this shape.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on h1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
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: a2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 584.
The engine's main line opens with a4.
Morozov Balance Index: 78 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +18 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #285Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 015 · SP-285
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