Winning blow: pawn to d7 (c6·3)
c9-16402naming 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 f2, queen b6, pawn a2 e2 h2 g3 f4 e5 c6.
Black: king c8, queen b1, rook d7 f8, bishop h8, pawn f5 g5 e7 h7.
9 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 29.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 10 points of material (16 against 26; 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 c8.
It is White to move on move 29, with 29 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, d — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
The White king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
29. cxd7+ Kxd7 30. Qxb1
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to d7 keeps the pressure (+6.0).
- Spot on — queen to b1 (+6.0).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kxd7, then Qxb1 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 29. cxd7+ — pawn to d7 (capture) with check
- Kxd7 — king to d7 (capture)
- 30. Qxb1 — queen to b1 (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.
Counter-strike
Don't defend — answer the threat with a bigger one.
The counter-strike: instead of defending against the threat, you answer with a bigger threat of your own. While your opponent grabs a pawn, you deliver mate — the arithmetic favors you. Look for a counter when direct defenses fail: do you have a check, an attack on the queen, a mating threat? The beginner's error is meeting every threat with a reflexive defense without checking the counterattacking resources first.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #183.
SP-183 · ThroneScout — Centre-file king, rim knight: 204 of the 960 positions share this pattern.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on g1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 770.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 80 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +17 centipawns for White (depth 50, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #183Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 004 · SP-183
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