Winning blow: bishop to d5 (e6·4)
c9-18690naming 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 2060 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
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 h4, rook e1, bishop g5 e6, knight e2 f3, pawn a2 f2 g3 d4.
Black: king g8, rook g7, pawn b6 a7 f7.
11 white and 5 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 28.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 22 points of material (30 against 8; 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 28, with 51 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, e, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 5 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
28. Bd5 Rh7 29. Qf4 a5 30. Qb8+
Why it works
- Sensible development: bishop to d5.
- queen to f4 develops smoothly.
- Precise: queen to b8 is the top choice (#4).
- You win decisive material (+15.0).
- If instead Rh7, then Qe4 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 28. Bd5 — bishop to d5
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 #197.
SP-197 · BastionGuard — Off-centre king (c/f), no knight on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on e1 and h1, 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.
The bishops stand on c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
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 BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 666.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 83 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +16 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #197Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 015 · SP-197
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