Winning blow: rook to f8 (b8)
c9-18336naming 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 d1, queen a6, rook f1 b8, bishop g1 c2, knight e3, pawn e2 h2 g3 a4.
Black: king f7, queen c3, rook c6 f8, bishop a2, knight f4, pawn d2 c5 f5 d7 e7.
11 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 20.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 2 points of material (32 against 30; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d1, the black king on f7.
It is White to move on move 20, with 42 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, d, f.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
20. Rxf8+ Kxf8 21. Qa8+ Kf7 22. Rxf4
Why it works
- Great move! rook to f8 keeps the pressure (+5.0).
- Well found: queen to a8 (+5.3).
- Strong! rook to f4 is the sharp choice (+5.4).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Ke6, then Qb5 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 20. Rxf8+ — rook to f8 (capture) 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 #588.
SP-588 · ThroneScout — King on a central file (d/e) with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
The king starts on e1, the rooks on c1 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 b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- 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 284.
The engine's main line opens with Ng3, bringing the knight out to g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 69 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +21 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #588Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-588
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