Winning blow: queen to c5 (g1·2)
c9-16784naming 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 1390 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 b1, queen g1, rook a1, bishop c1 d1, knight c6, pawn b2 c2 d3 e5 a6.
Black: king c7, queen h3, rook f1 a8, bishop c8 d8, knight g7, pawn g3 b5 d5 a7.
11 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 18.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 4 points of material (28 against 32; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b1, the black king on c7.
It is White to move on move 18, with 38 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): f, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: g.
The White king has 1 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
18. Qc5 Qd7 19. Nxa7+ Kb8 20. Nc6+ Qxc6 21. Qxc6
Why it works
- Great move! queen to c5 keeps the pressure (+1.9).
- Spot on — knight to a7 (+1.3).
- Precise: knight to c6 is the top choice (+1.3).
- Great move! queen to c6 keeps the pressure (+1.4).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qd7, then Nxa7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 18. Qc5 — queen to c5
- Qd7 — queen to d7
- 19. Nxa7+ — knight to a7 (capture) with check
- Kb8 — king to b8
- 20. Nc6+ — knight to c6 with check
- Qxc6 — queen to c6 (capture)
- 21. Qxc6 — queen to c6 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Discovered check
The moving piece opens a check — and is free to grab anything meanwhile.
With a discovered check the moving piece unmasks a check from the piece standing behind it. While the king deals with the check, the piece that moved grabs whatever it likes, free of charge. Look for your long-range piece on a line with the enemy king, with exactly one of your own pieces in between. The rule: among all the ways to step aside, pick the one that captures or attacks the most expensive loot.
Quiet move
No check, no capture — yet this modest move decides the game.
A quiet move gives no check and takes nothing — yet it decides the game by creating an unstoppable threat or stealing the king's last square. This is the hardest class of moves: the eye hunts for loud blows while a modest shift does the winning. The clue: every forcing try runs into a defense, so seek the move that strengthens the threat or takes squares away. Train yourself to ask: what if I neither capture nor check, but quietly improve?
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #853.
SP-853 · RampartGuard — The king starts out on a wing file, b or g, with neither knight in a corner.
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and f1, the queen on h1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 106.
The engine's main line opens with a4.
Morozov Balance Index: 59 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +24 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #853Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 010 · SP-853
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