Winning blow: pawn to e6 (e5·15)
c9-19372naming 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 1870 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
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 d2, queen a8, rook a1 e1, bishop g1, pawn c2 g2 h2 a5 e5 g6.
Black: king d7, rook c6, pawn d4 a6 c7 g7 h7.
11 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 24.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 18 points of material (28 against 10; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d2, the black king on d7.
It is White to move on move 24, with 39 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d.
The White king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
24. e6+ Rxe6 25. gxh7 Rh6 26. Qd5+
Why it works
- Best move. pawn to e6 is exactly what the engine plays (#6).
- Spot on — pawn to h7 (#5).
- Precise: queen to d5 is the top choice (#5).
- You win decisive material (+15.0).
- If instead Rxe6, then Rxe6 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 24. e6+ — pawn to e6 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 #845.
SP-845 · RampartScout — King on b or g with a knight already on the edge — the least common of the position families (72 in all).
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and e1, the queen on f1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: d2.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 120.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 5 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +49 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #845Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 014 · SP-845
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