Winning blow: king to e2 (e1·14)
c9-18191naming 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 1250 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 e1, queen d7, rook h1, bishop a1 d1, knight d2 d5, pawn a2 f2 h2 e3 g3 b4.
Black: king g8, rook c1 f8, bishop a5 a8, knight c2 h6, pawn e5 f5 d6 a7 g7 h7.
13 white and 13 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 17.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 4 points of material (32 against 28; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on e1, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 17, with 2 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle. White are in check right now, so every reply must answer the check.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d.
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
17. Ke2 Nxa1 18. Qe6+ Kh8 19. bxa5
Why it works
- Great move! king to e2 keeps the pressure (+3.1).
- Spot on — queen to e6 (+3.2).
- Precise: pawn to a5 is the top choice (+3.5).
- You reach a winning position (+3.5).
- If instead Nxa1, then Qe6+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 17. Ke2 — king to e2
- Nxa1 — knight to a1 (capture)
- 18. Qe6+ — queen to e6 with check
- Kh8 — king to h8
- 19. bxa5 — pawn to a5 (capture)
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 #241.
SP-241 · ThroneGuard — A central king (d or e) and two knights tucked onto inner files: the family that holds the standard array, SP-518.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on c1 and h1, the queen on f1.
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 a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 619.
The engine's main line opens with b3.
Morozov Balance Index: 65 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +22 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #241Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-241
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