Winning blow: bishop to f4 (g3)
c9-19263naming 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 d1, queen b5, rook e2, bishop g3 g4, pawn g2 h2 b3 d3.
Black: king c8, queen f4, rook d7 d8, bishop d2, knight h8, pawn d4 a5 d5 g7 h7.
9 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 26.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 6 points of material (24 against 30; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d1, the black king on c8.
It is White to move on move 26, with 35 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, e, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 1 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
26. Bxf4 Bxf4 27. Re7 Kc7 28. Bxd7
Why it works
- Best move. bishop to f4 is exactly what the engine plays (#3).
- rook to e7 develops smoothly.
- Precise: bishop to d7 is the top choice (#4).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Bxf4, then Re7 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 26. Bxf4 — bishop to f4 (capture)
- Bxf4 — bishop to f4 (capture)
- 27. Re7 — rook to e7
- Kc7 — king to c7
- 28. Bxd7 — bishop to d7 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Win the pinned piece
The pinned piece cannot run — attack it again and win it.
A pinned piece cannot flee, which means you can win it outright by attacking it one more time. Count attackers against defenders: if you outnumber them, the piece is yours. The best extra attacker is a pawn, since it costs less than anything it might capture. Do not rush the capture — build up the pressure first, then harvest.
Counter-strike
Don't defend — answer the threat with a bigger one.
The counter-strike: instead of defending against the threat, you answer with a bigger threat of your own. While your opponent grabs a pawn, you deliver mate — the arithmetic favors you. Look for a counter when direct defenses fail: do you have a check, an attack on the queen, a mating threat? The beginner's error is meeting every threat with a reflexive defense without checking the counterattacking resources first.
Trapped piece
The attacked piece has no safe square — it is caught.
Trapping a piece means the attacked piece has no safe square left — it simply perishes. Do not chase it around; build a cage instead: cut off the escape squares with pawns and pieces first, and attack last. The typical victim has wandered deep into your camp or is stuck at the edge of the board, where its mobility is tiny. And always check the way home for your own raiders — or the trapped piece will be yours.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #778.
SP-778 · BastionScout — A knight on the a- or h-file, king on c or f — the mirror twin lands here as well.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and g1, the queen on a1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
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: h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 181.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 26 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +34 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #778Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 006 · SP-778
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