Winning blow: queen to b4 (c4)
c9-18112naming 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 c1, queen c4, rook a1 e1, bishop e3 e4, knight b1 f1, pawn a2 e2 c3 f3 a4 e6.
Black: king b8, rook a8 d8, bishop g8 h8, pawn h4 a6 b7 e7 h7.
14 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 22.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 16 points of material (37 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 c1, the black king on b8.
It is White to move on move 22, with 40 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, 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
22. Qb4 b5 23. Qxe7 Rd5 24. Bxd5
Why it works
- Sensible development: queen to b4.
- Spot on — queen to e7 (#3).
- Precise: bishop to d5 is the top choice (#2).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead b5, then Qxe7 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 22. Qb4 — queen to b4
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 #623.
SP-623 · ThroneGuard — King home on d or e, knights kept off the a- and h-files — the family of the standard starting array.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on a1 and e1, the queen on c1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 240.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 65 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +22 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #623Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 015 · SP-623
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