Winning blow: rook to f7 (g7·2)
c9-18018naming 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 920 ShuffleRating — for beginners taking their first steps in Chess960 tactics.
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 d1 g7, bishop e5, knight c3 e4, pawn b2 c2 a4 g4.
Black: king a7, queen f7, rook c7 a8, knight b7, pawn a5 g5 b6 c6.
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 3 points of material (23 against 26; 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 39 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): d, e, f, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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. Rxf7 Rxf7 34. Nxg5
Why it works
- Great move! rook to f7 keeps the pressure (+4.1).
- Spot on — knight to g5 (+4.3).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Rxf7, then Nxg5 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 33. Rxf7 — rook to f7 (capture)
- Rxf7 — rook to f7 (capture)
- 34. Nxg5 — knight to g5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Decoy
A sacrifice lures the king or a piece onto a fatal square.
A decoy is the mirror image of deflection: you sacrifice to drag the king or a piece onto a fatal square. The classic is a queen or rook sac whose capture pulls the king into a knight fork, a discovered check or mate. Find the square where the target will be hit, then find the offer it cannot refuse. Calculate to the very end — a decoy only works when the follow-up is forced.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #555.
SP-555 · BastionGuard — King shifted to c or f, knights kept clear of the edges — 168 positions in all.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on a1 and g1, the queen on f1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 497.
The engine's main line opens with g4.
Morozov Balance Index: 51 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +26 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #555Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 005 · SP-555
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