Winning blow: bishop to e4 (b1·4)
c9-16166naming 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 f2, rook c1 f8, bishop b1 f6, pawn a2 b3 c4.
Black: king c7, rook e7, bishop g2, knight e4 h4, pawn b6 a7 d7 h7.
8 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 27.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (19 against 18; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on f2, the black king on c7.
It is White to move on move 27, with 5 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 3 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e, f, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d, h.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
27. Bxe4 Rxe4 28. Bd8+ Kc6 29. Bxh4 Rxh4 30. Kxg2
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to e4 keeps the pressure (+4.8).
- Spot on — bishop to d8 (+4.8).
- Precise: bishop to h4 is the top choice (+4.8).
- Best move. king to g2 is exactly what the engine plays (+4.9).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Rxe4, then Bd8+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 27. Bxe4 — bishop to e4 (capture)
- Rxe4 — rook to e4 (capture)
- 28. Bd8+ — bishop to d8 with check
- Kc6 — king to c6
- 29. Bxh4 — bishop to h4 (capture)
- Rxh4 — rook to h4 (capture)
- 30. Kxg2 — king to g2 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Remove the defender
Capture the guard first — then take what it protected.
Removing the defender is the straightforward plan: capture the guard first, then take what it guarded. Unlike deflection, the defender is not lured away — it is traded off or destroyed on the spot. Stare at the target you crave and ask who defends it, and whether that defender can be profitably eaten. Count the whole capture sequence, not just the first move — the trade must pay off at the end.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #624.
SP-624 · ThroneScout — King on a central file (d/e) with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
The king starts on e1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on f1.
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.
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: h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 239.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 80 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +17 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #624Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-624
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