Winning blow: knight to d5 (c3·13)
c9-16863naming 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 1250 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, rook d3 b5, bishop b7, knight c3, pawn b2 c2 d2 g2.
Black: king a7, queen g8, rook f8, bishop g1, knight g4, pawn f5 h5 c7.
9 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 33.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 3 points of material (20 against 23; 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 a7.
It is White to move on move 33, with 35 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: f, h.
The White king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
33. Nd5 Bc5 34. Bc6 Qxd5 35. Rxd5
Why it works
- Great move! knight to d5 keeps the pressure (#4).
- Spot on — bishop to c6 (+7.0).
- Precise: rook to d5 is the top choice (+7.1).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Bc5, then Bc6 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 33. Nd5 — knight to d5
- Bc5 — bishop to c5
- 34. Bc6 — bishop to c6
- Qxd5 — queen to d5 (capture)
- 35. Rxd5 — rook to d5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
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 #857.
SP-857 · RampartGuard — A wing king (b/g) with no knight on the a- or h-file.
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 d1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a5 once the e- and d-pawns step aside.
The pawn on b2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 105.
The engine's main line opens with a4.
Morozov Balance Index: 18 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +38 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #857Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-857
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