Winning blow: rook to f2 (f1·5)
c9-19452naming 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 h6, rook d1 f1, bishop c2 d2, knight b3, pawn a2 b2 g2 h2 c4 d4.
Black: king g8, queen e8, rook d8 f8, bishop b8 c8, knight e6 f6, pawn f2 b6 c6 a7 e7 f7 h7.
13 white and 15 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 17.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 4 points of material (34 against 38; 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 g8.
It is White to move on move 17, with 3 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle. White are in check right now, so every reply must answer the check.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 7. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: e, f.
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
17. Rxf2 Ne4 18. Bxe4 f5 19. Bxf5 Rxf5 20. Rxf5
Why it works
- Great move! rook to f2 keeps the pressure (+3.6).
- Well found: bishop to e4 (+3.5).
- Precise: bishop to f5 is the top choice (+3.8).
- Great move! rook to f5 keeps the pressure (+4.1).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Ne4, then Bxe4 and you win the knight.
Move by move
- 17. Rxf2 — rook to f2 (capture)
- Ne4 — knight to e4
- 18. Bxe4 — bishop to e4 (capture)
- f5 — pawn to f5
- 19. Bxf5 — bishop to f5 (capture)
- Rxf5 — rook to f5 (capture)
- 20. Rxf5 — rook to f5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Winning exchange
A forced series of captures on one square ends in your favour.
A winning exchange is a forced series of captures on one square that leaves you ahead in material. It is pure arithmetic: count the attackers and defenders of the square and note the value of every piece in the queue. Capture in the right order — cheap pieces first, expensive ones later — or a winning trade turns into a losing one. The classic error is stopping the count halfway and missing the opponent's final recapture.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #228.
SP-228 · BastionScout — King off-centre on c or f with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
The king starts on f1, the rooks on d1 and h1, the queen on e1.
The queenside rook already stands on d1, so castling long moves only the king, from f1 to c1.
The bishops stand on b1 and c1; their long diagonals reach h7 and h6 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
The pawn on g2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 638.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 55 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +25 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #228Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-228
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