Winning blow: rook to d7 (d4·3)
c9-18635naming 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 1200 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 f2, queen b4, rook d4, bishop b2, knight e2, pawn a2 b3 c4 e4.
Black: king g7, queen c8, rook h5 e8, bishop b8, pawn b5 h6 a7 d7.
9 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 25.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (24 against 26; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on f2, the black king on g7.
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 4 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): f, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d, h.
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
25. Rxd7+ Kg8 26. Rg7+ Kh8 27. Rc7+ Kg8 28. Rxc8
Why it works
- Great move! rook to d7 keeps the pressure (+6.1).
- Well found: rook to g7 (+6.8).
- Strong! rook to c7 is the sharp choice (+7.1).
- Best move. rook to c8 is exactly what the engine plays (+7.1).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kg8, then Rg7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 25. Rxd7+ — rook to d7 (capture) with check
- Kg8 — king to g8
- 26. Rg7+ — rook to g7 with check
- Kh8 — king to h8
- 27. Rc7+ — rook to c7 with check
- Kg8 — king to g8
- 28. Rxc8 — rook to c8 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Rook fork
The rook attacks two targets along rank and file at the same time.
A rook fork attacks two targets from one square — one along the file, the other along the rank. Look for enemy pieces standing at a right angle to each other, both visible from a single safe square. This is bread and butter in endgames, where a rook check picks up loose pieces and pawns along the way. Test every rook check you have: does it also hit something valuable on the other line?
Discovered check
The moving piece opens a check — and is free to grab anything meanwhile.
With a discovered check the moving piece unmasks a check from the piece standing behind it. While the king deals with the check, the piece that moved grabs whatever it likes, free of charge. Look for your long-range piece on a line with the enemy king, with exactly one of your own pieces in between. The rule: among all the ways to step aside, pick the one that captures or attacks the most expensive loot.
Double check
Two pieces give check at once — only a king move can answer.
A double check is check from two pieces at once: the one that moved and the one it unveiled. Blocking or capturing is useless against two checks — only a king move helps. Look for a discovered check where the front piece can give check as well. It is the most forcing move in chess: you may even hang your queen with it, because nobody has time to take her.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #864.
SP-864 · 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 d1 and f1, the queen on c1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: g2, h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 95.
The engine's main line opens with Ng3, bringing the knight out to g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 5 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +49 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #864Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-864
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