Winning blow: rook to c8 (c3)
c9-17720naming 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 1150 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 g2, queen e2, rook c3, bishop f5, pawn b2 f2 d3 e4 h4 h5.
Black: king d8, queen h8, rook a6, bishop b1, knight a2, pawn a5 e5 d6 f7.
10 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 33.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (23 against 24; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g2, the black king on d8.
It is White to move on move 33, with 37 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, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a.
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
33. Rc8+ Ke7 34. Rxh8
Why it works
- Great move! rook to c8 keeps the pressure (#12).
- Well found: rook to h8 (#9).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Ke7, then Rxh8 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 33. Rc8+ — rook to c8 with check
- Ke7 — king to e7
- 34. Rxh8 — rook to h8 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Skewer
A line attack forces the valuable piece to move, exposing the one behind it.
A skewer is a pin turned inside out: the valuable piece stands in front and something cheaper hides behind it. The big piece must step aside, and you collect the one that was sheltering in its shadow. Scan for the enemy king or queen sharing a file, rank or diagonal with another enemy piece. The deadliest version comes with check — the king moves, the rook behind it dies.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #473.
SP-473 · BastionGuard — Off-centre king (c/f), no knight on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on a1 and g1, the queen on h1.
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: b2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 681.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 7 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +47 centipawns for White (depth 42, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #473Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 007 · SP-473
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