Winning blow: knight to d5 (e3·15)
c9-18200naming 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 1790 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
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 d4, rook d2, bishop a3, knight e3, pawn a2 h2 c4 g4 b6.
Black: king e8, queen a6, rook h6 c8, bishop e6, knight g6, pawn e4 a5 d5 g5 f6 b7 f7 h7.
10 white and 14 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 25.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 8 points of material (25 against 33; 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 e8.
It is White to move on move 25, with 37 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 8. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: d, e, f.
The White king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
25. Nxd5 Ne7 26. Nc7+ Kf8 27. Nxa6
Why it works
- Great move! knight to d5 keeps the pressure (+5.5).
- Spot on — knight to c7 (+5.5).
- Precise: knight to a6 is the top choice (+5.8).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Ne7, then Nc7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 25. Nxd5 — knight to d5 (capture)
- Ne7 — knight to e7
- 26. Nc7+ — knight to c7 with check
- Kf8 — king to f8
- 27. Nxa6 — knight to a6 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #679.
SP-679 · 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 d1, the rooks on b1 and g1, the queen on a1.
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.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: f2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 466.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 72 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +20 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #679Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 013 · SP-679
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads