Winning blow: queen to d5 (d6·3)
c9-17323naming 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 2060 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
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 h1, queen d6, rook b1 f1, bishop c4, knight g3, pawn g2 h2 d4 f4.
Black: king f8, queen e7, rook a8, knight h3, pawn a5 f5 g6 g7.
10 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 29.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 8 points of material (29 against 21; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on h1, the black king on f8.
It is White to move on move 29, with 49 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, c, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a.
The White king has 0 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
29. Qd5 Nf2+ 30. Rxf2 Ke8 31. Qxa8+
Why it works
- Great move! queen to d5 keeps the pressure (#5).
- Spot on — rook to f2 (#4).
- Precise: queen to a8 is the top choice (#4).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Nf2+, then Rxf2 and you win the knight.
Move by move
- 29. Qd5 — queen to d5
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 #585.
SP-585 · BastionScout — Off-centre king plus a rim knight (a/h): 168 positions carry this shape.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on b1 and g1, the queen on a1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
The bishops stand on d1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a5 once the e- and d-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 281.
The engine's main line opens with O-O, bringing the king out to g1.
Morozov Balance Index: 69 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +21 centipawns for White (depth 42, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #585Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 015 · SP-585
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