Winning blow: knight to d2 (f3)
c9-18682naming 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 970 ShuffleRating — for beginners taking their first steps in Chess960 tactics.
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 g1, queen c2, rook h2 c4, bishop f1, knight f3, pawn a2 f2 g3 d4 e5 h5.
Black: king g7, queen e6, rook a1 b1, bishop e7, pawn g5 a6 d6 h6 f7.
12 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 26.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 4 points of material (31 against 27; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g1, the black king on g7.
It is White to move on move 26, with 36 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, c — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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
26. Nd2 Re1 27. Qd3 dxe5 28. d5
Why it works
- Great move! knight to d2 keeps the pressure (+1.7).
- queen to d3 develops smoothly.
- A natural move: pawn to d5.
- You reach a winning position (+1.6).
- If instead Rd1, then f4 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 26. Nd2 — knight to d2
Types in this puzzle
Quiet move
No check, no capture — yet this modest move decides the game.
A quiet move gives no check and takes nothing — yet it decides the game by creating an unstoppable threat or stealing the king's last square. This is the hardest class of moves: the eye hunts for loud blows while a modest shift does the winning. The clue: every forcing try runs into a defense, so seek the move that strengthens the threat or takes squares away. Train yourself to ask: what if I neither capture nor check, but quietly improve?
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #418.
SP-418 · RampartGuard — Both knights begin on inner files while the king sits on the wing (b/g); mirror twins stay together in this family.
The king starts on g1, the rooks on b1 and h1, the queen on d1.
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 is defended by the king alone — the classic soft spot of the standard setup.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 727.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 100 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: -2 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
In 50 self-play games White scored 51.0% (95% CI 37.6–64.3%).
Explore position #418Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 005 · SP-418
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