Winning blow: pawn to d5 (c4·13)
c9-19443naming 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 g1, queen g2, rook c1 f1, bishop a1 c2, knight d4, pawn a2 f2 e3 c4 h4 g5.
Black: king b7, queen a4, rook g7 d8, bishop c5 d5, knight e5 c7, pawn b6 f6 g6 a7 e7 h7.
13 white and 14 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 22.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 3 points of material (34 against 37; 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 b7.
It is White to move on move 22, with 39 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b.
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
22. cxd5 Qxa2 23. d6+ Kb8 24. dxc7+ Kxc7 25. Be4
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to d5 keeps the pressure (+5.7).
- Spot on — pawn to d6 (+6.4).
- Precise: pawn to c7 is the top choice (+7.1).
- Best move. bishop to e4 is exactly what the engine plays (+5.8).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Qxa2, then d6+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 22. cxd5 — pawn to d5 (capture)
- Qxa2 — queen to a2 (capture)
- 23. d6+ — pawn to d6 with check
- Kb8 — king to b8
- 24. dxc7+ — pawn to c7 (capture) with check
- Kxc7 — king to c7 (capture)
- 25. Be4 — bishop to e4
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.
Discovered check
The moving piece opens a check — and is free to grab anything meanwhile.
With a discovered check the moving piece unmasks a check from the piece standing behind it. While the king deals with the check, the piece that moved grabs whatever it likes, free of charge. Look for your long-range piece on a line with the enemy king, with exactly one of your own pieces in between. The rule: among all the ways to step aside, pick the one that captures or attacks the most expensive loot.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #280.
SP-280 · ThroneScout — A knight starts on the edge (a/h) and the king sits centrally on d or e; the mirror twin stays in this family too.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on h1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: b2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 589.
The engine's main line opens with g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 13 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +41 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #280Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-280
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