Winning blow: rook to f7 (f4·7)
c9-19615naming 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 1470 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 d1, queen d5, rook a1 f4, bishop d3 e3, knight c1, pawn d2 h2 c3 f3 h3 a4.
Black: king h6, queen c8, rook e6 a8, knight c6, pawn a5 e5 g5 d7 h7.
13 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 28.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 7 points of material (34 against 27; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d1, the black king on h6.
It is White to move on move 28, with 51 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 — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: e, g.
White 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. Rf7 Qg8 29. Qxd7 Qxf7 30. Qxf7
Why it works
- Great move! rook to f7 keeps the pressure (#7).
- Well found: queen to d7 (#6).
- Strong! queen to f7 is the sharp choice (#5).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qg8, then Qxd7 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 28. Rf7 — rook to f7
Types in this puzzle
Quiet move
No check, no capture — yet this modest move decides the game.
A quiet move gives no check and takes nothing — yet it decides the game by creating an unstoppable threat or stealing the king's last square. This is the hardest class of moves: the eye hunts for loud blows while a modest shift does the winning. The clue: every forcing try runs into a defense, so seek the move that strengthens the threat or takes squares away. Train yourself to ask: what if I neither capture nor check, but quietly improve?
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #606.
SP-606 · ThroneScout — King on a central file (d/e) with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
The king starts on d1, the rooks on a1 and e1, the queen on b1.
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 f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
The pawn on d2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 260.
The engine's main line opens with Ng3, bringing the knight out to g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 51 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +26 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #606Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-606
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads