Winning blow: rook to d8 (d1·32)
c9-19391naming 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.
A fork made possible by the Chess960 piece placement.
Winning tactic: there is a move that gains a decisive advantage — find it.
Difficulty 1930 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.
A set-up fork needs one preparing move before the fork lands — a check that drives the king onto the forking square, or a capture that lines the targets up. Find the preparation first, then the fork it makes possible.
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 b1, queen e7, rook d1 h1, bishop f1, pawn g2 h2 b3 f5.
Black: king b8, queen g6, rook a8 h8, bishop a3 c6, pawn h4 b6 f6.
9 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 28.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (26 against 28; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b1, the black king on b8.
It is White to move on move 28, with 44 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, c, d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
28. Rd8+ Rxd8 29. Qxd8+ Kb7 30. Qxa8+ Kxa8 31. fxg6
Why it works
- Great move! rook to d8 keeps the pressure (+4.5).
- Well found: queen to d8 (+4.6).
- Strong! queen to a8 is the sharp choice (+4.7).
- Great move! pawn to g6 keeps the pressure (+4.9).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Rxd8, then Qxd8+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 28. Rd8+ — rook to d8 with check
- Rxd8 — rook to d8 (capture)
- 29. Qxd8+ — queen to d8 (capture) with check
- Kb7 — king to b7
- 30. Qxa8+ — queen to a8 (capture) with check
- Kxa8 — king to a8 (capture)
- 31. fxg6 — pawn to g6 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Setup fork
The random setup allows a fork that classical chess never sees.
A setup fork is a double attack that exists only because of the unusual starting squares — in classical chess these targets never stand side by side. Look for pairs of undefended pieces on your opponent's back rank and for squares from which a knight or pawn hits both at once. Such forks usually appear within the first moves, before the pieces disperse. In every new position, note right away which starting pieces are defended by no one.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
Skewer
A line attack forces the valuable piece to move, exposing the one behind it.
A skewer is a pin turned inside out: the valuable piece stands in front and something cheaper hides behind it. The big piece must step aside, and you collect the one that was sheltering in its shadow. Scan for the enemy king or queen sharing a file, rank or diagonal with another enemy piece. The deadliest version comes with check — the king moves, the rook behind it dies.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #706.
SP-706 · BastionGuard — Both knights begin inside the board while the king stands on c or f; a position and its mirror twin share this family.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and h1, the queen on d1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, f2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 439.
The engine's main line opens with Ngf3, bringing the knight out to f3.
Morozov Balance Index: 59 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +24 centipawns for White (depth 42, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #706Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 014 · SP-706
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads