Winning blow: knight to c6 (e5·16)
c9-19396naming 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 1200 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 h1, queen c5, rook a1 b1, bishop a4, knight e2 e5, pawn g2 c3 h3 f4.
Black: king b8, queen f8, rook b6 h8, bishop c8, knight d5 d6, pawn c4 e6 f6 g6 a7 h7.
11 white and 13 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 29.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (32 against 34; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on h1, the black king on b8.
It is White to move on move 29, with 52 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, e.
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
29. Nc6+ Kb7 30. Nxa7 Nb5 31. Qxf8 Rxf8 32. Bxb5
Why it works
- Great move! knight to c6 keeps the pressure (+5.9).
- Spot on — knight to a7 (+4.8).
- Precise: queen to f8 is the top choice (+4.6).
- Best move. bishop to b5 is exactly what the engine plays (+4.8).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kb7, then Nxa7 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 29. Nc6+ — knight to c6 with check
- Kb7 — king to b7
- 30. Nxa7 — knight to a7 (capture)
- Nb5 — knight to b5
- 31. Qxf8 — queen to f8 (capture)
- Rxf8 — rook to f8 (capture)
- 32. Bxb5 — bishop to b5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Absolute pin
A piece is pinned against its king — it cannot legally move.
An absolute pin freezes a piece on the line between its own king and your long-range attacker: moving it is simply illegal. The pattern is three units on one straight line — your bishop, rook or queen, an enemy piece, and the enemy king behind it. A pinned piece neither attacks nor defends anything: treat it as if it were off the board. Pile up on it, ideally with a pawn, because running away is against the rules.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #724.
SP-724 · ThroneGuard — A centre-file king with no knight on the edge; a position and its mirror twin always share this family.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on f1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
The bishops stand on b1 and c1; their long diagonals reach h7 and h6 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 430.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 34 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +31 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #724Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-724
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