Winning blow: queen to f7 (g8·3)
c9-19177naming 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 g1, queen g8, rook f1, knight d5, pawn a2 d2 g2 b3 c4 f5.
Black: king d7, queen a6, rook b7, bishop e5, pawn a4 b4 g4 c5.
10 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 31.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 2 points of material (23 against 21; 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 d7.
It is White to move on move 31, with 38 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e, h — 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
31. Qf7+ Kd8 32. Qf8+ Kd7 33. Qe7+
Why it works
- Great move! queen to f7 keeps the pressure (#11).
- Spot on — queen to f8 (#10).
- Precise: queen to e7 is the top choice (#9).
- You win decisive material (+15.0).
- If instead Kd8, then Qf8+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 31. Qf7+ — queen to f7 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 #394.
SP-394 · 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 a1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
The bishops stand on e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: c2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 757.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 51 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +26 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #394Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-394
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