Winning blow: knight to a7 (c6·2)
c9-19030naming 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 1280 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 d3, rook e7, bishop h1 b6, knight c6, pawn a2 f2 h2 g3 c4.
Black: king c8, rook g8, bishop d7, pawn f4 g5 h7.
10 white and 6 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 25.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 8 points of material (19 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 d3, the black king on c8.
It is White to move on move 25, with 43 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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. Na7+ Kb8 26. Rxd7 Rc8 27. Nc6+
Why it works
- Best move. knight to a7 is exactly what the engine plays (#4).
- Spot on — rook to d7 (#3).
- Precise: knight to c6 is the top choice (#2).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Kb8, then Rxd7 and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 25. Na7+ — knight to a7 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 #219.
SP-219 · ThroneScout — Centre-file king, rim knight: 204 of the 960 positions share this pattern.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on b1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
The pawn on e2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 641.
The engine's main line opens with c3.
Morozov Balance Index: 55 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +25 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #219Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-219
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