Winning blow: rook to e8 (d8·3)
c9-19166naming 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 1010 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 g8, rook d8, pawn a2 e5 h7.
Black: king e7, queen h8, knight e8, pawn a4 b5 f7.
6 white and 6 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 35.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 2 points of material (17 against 15; 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 e7.
It is White to move on move 35, with 32 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, f.
The White king has 8 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
35. Rxe8+ Kd7 36. Qxf7+ Kc6 37. Qe6+
Why it works
- Best move. rook to e8 is exactly what the engine plays (#6).
- Spot on — queen to f7 (#5).
- Precise: queen to e6 is the top choice (#5).
- You win a piece — the knight.
- If instead Kd7, then Qxf7+ and you win the knight.
Move by move
- 35. Rxe8+ — rook to e8 (capture) 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 #89.
SP-89 · BastionScout — King shifted to c or f, with a knight committed to the corner from move one.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on h1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
The bishops stand on d1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a5 once the e- and d-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, b2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 873.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 61 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +23 centipawns for White (depth 42, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #89Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 006 · SP-89
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