Winning blow: queen to g6 (e6·3)
c9-18783naming 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 1060 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 b1, queen e6, rook c1, pawn b2 h2 d3 a4 d5.
Black: king e8, queen d8, rook g6, bishop c3 a6, pawn a5 g5 b6 b7 e7.
8 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 30.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 6 points of material (19 against 25; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b1, the black king on e8.
It is White to move on move 30, with 35 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: e, g.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
30. Qxg6+ Kf8 31. bxc3 Bxd3+ 32. Qxd3
Why it works
- Great move! queen to g6 keeps the pressure (+6.1).
- Spot on — pawn to c3 (+6.5).
- Strong! queen to d3 is the sharp choice (+6.4).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Kf8, then bxc3 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 30. Qxg6+ — queen to g6 (capture) with check
- Kf8 — king to f8
- 31. bxc3 — pawn to c3 (capture)
- Bxd3+ — bishop to d3 (capture) with check
- 32. Qxd3 — queen to d3 (capture)
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.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #347.
SP-347 · BastionScout — King shifted to c or f, with a knight committed to the corner from move one.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on d1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 321.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 20 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +37 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #347Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 006 · SP-347
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