Winning blow: queen to d8 (d5·2)
c9-18381naming 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 1870 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 g2, queen d5, rook d2 f3, pawn a2 c2.
Black: king g8, rook e6, pawn e3 b4 c5 b6 g6 f7.
6 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 34.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 10 points of material (21 against 11; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g2, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 34, with 41 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 2 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, e, f, g.
The White king has 6 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
34. Qd8+ Re8 35. Qxe8+ Kg7 36. Qxf7+
Why it works
- Best move. queen to d8 is exactly what the engine plays (#4).
- Spot on — queen to e8 (#3).
- Precise: queen to f7 is the top choice (#2).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Re8, then Qf6 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 34. Qd8+ — queen to d8 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 #97.
SP-97 · RampartGuard — The king starts out on a wing file, b or g, with neither knight in a corner.
The king starts on g1, the rooks on e1 and h1, the queen on b1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The pawn on f2, g2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 859.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 34 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +31 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #97Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 014 · SP-97
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