Winning blow: pawn to d5 (c4·6)
c9-16265naming 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 e1, rook d1 h1, bishop f1 e3, knight d4, pawn b2 g2 h2 a3 c4 f6.
Black: king d7, queen d5, rook c8 h8, bishop f8, knight c6, pawn e4 a6 b6 g6 c7 h7.
12 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 18.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 6 points of material (25 against 31; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on e1, the black king on d7.
It is White to move on move 18, with 37 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): d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: e.
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
18. cxd5 Nxd4 19. Bxd4
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to d5 keeps the pressure (+5.8).
- Spot on — bishop to d4 (+6.0).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Nxd4, then Bxd4 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 18. cxd5 — pawn to d5 (capture)
- Nxd4 — knight to d4 (capture)
- 19. Bxd4 — bishop to d4 (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 #14.
SP-14 · 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 e1, the rooks on d1 and h1, the queen on a1.
The queenside rook already stands on d1, so castling long moves only the king, from e1 to c1.
The bishops stand on f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: c2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 948.
The engine's main line opens with f3.
Morozov Balance Index: 89 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +14 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #14Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 004 · SP-14
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads