Winning blow: queen to e5 (a1·8)
c9-18142naming 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 1280 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 h3, queen a1, rook e1 f5, bishop g1, knight c5, pawn a2 c2 d2 h2 b3 f6.
Black: king c7, rook g4 f8, bishop b6, pawn b5 h5 a7 d7.
12 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 24.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 14 points of material (31 against 17; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on h3, the black king on c7.
It is White to move on move 24, with 44 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): e, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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
24. Qe5+ Kc8 25. Qd5 Bxc5 26. Qxc5+
Why it works
- Great move! queen to e5 keeps the pressure (#6).
- Well found: queen to d5 (#5).
- Precise: queen to c5 is the top choice (#4).
- You win decisive material (+15.0).
- If instead Kc8, then Qd5 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 24. Qe5+ — queen to e5 with check
Types in this puzzle
Winning blow
Find the strike that wins material by force.
A winning blow is a forced material gain that does not fit a single textbook motif. The general tactical recipe applies: spot loose pieces, an awkwardly placed king, overloaded lines. Go through the forcing moves in order of violence — checks, captures, threats — because most combinations start with one of them. Do not judge by feel: calculate the concrete line until the outcome is beyond doubt.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #589.
SP-589 · ThroneScout — A central king (d or e), but with a knight posted out on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on a1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
The bishops stand on d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: g2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 280.
The engine's main line opens with f3.
Morozov Balance Index: 21 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +36 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #589Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-589
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads