Winning blow: rook to d1 (a1·5)
c9-16480naming 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 1280 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 e1, queen g5, rook a1 h1, knight a8, pawn b2 g2 h2 a4 b4 e6.
Black: king d6, rook h8, bishop c8 f8, pawn a6 g6 b7 h7.
11 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 22.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 13 points of material (28 against 15; 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 d6.
It is White to move on move 22, with 43 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 7 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
22. Rd1+ Kxe6 23. Nc7+ Kf7 24. Rf1+
Why it works
- Best move. rook to d1 is exactly what the engine plays (#4).
- Spot on — knight to c7 (#5).
- Precise: rook to f1 is the top choice (#4).
- You win decisive material (+15.0).
- If instead Kxe6, then O-O and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 22. Rd1+ — rook to d1 with check
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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #454.
SP-454 · ThroneGuard — A centre-file king with no knight on the edge; a position and its mirror twin always share this family.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on g1.
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.
The bishops stand on c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 once the d- and e-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 694.
The engine's main line opens with b3.
Morozov Balance Index: 47 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +27 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #454Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-454
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