Winning blow: queen to e5 (d5·4)
c9-16649naming 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 1430 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 c2, queen d5, rook a1 b7, bishop h1, pawn b2 e2 h2 c3 d3 g3 f4.
Black: king f6, queen f8, rook c8 g8, bishop h8, knight a8, pawn c5 f5 g6 e7 h7.
12 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 24.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (29 against 30; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on c2, the black king on f6.
It is White to move on move 24, with 56 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
The White king has 5 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
24. Qe5+ Kf7 25. Bd5+ Ke8 26. Qe6 Nb6 27. Rxb6
Why it works
- Great move! queen to e5 keeps the pressure (#6).
- Well found: bishop to d5 (#5).
- A natural move: queen to e6.
- Best move. rook to b6 is exactly what the engine plays (#3).
- You win a piece — the knight.
- If instead Kf7, then Bd5+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 24. Qe5+ — queen to e5 with check
- Kf7 — king to f7
- 25. Bd5+ — bishop to d5 with check
- Ke8 — king to e8
- 26. Qe6 — queen to e6
- Nb6 — knight to b6
- 27. Rxb6 — rook to b6 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Battery
Two pieces stacked on one line — the front one strikes with double force.
A battery stacks two long-range pieces on one line — a queen behind a bishop on a diagonal, or doubled rooks on a file. The front piece strikes with double force: capture it, and the piece behind recaptures with even more pressure. The battery is ready when both pieces already stare at one point and only the front strike is missing. Build batteries in advance on lines leading to the king — the doubling itself often breeds the combination.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #263.
SP-263 · ThroneScout — King in the middle of the rank, with a knight already committed to the corner.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on b1 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 h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 594.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 18 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +38 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #263Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 010 · SP-263
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