Winning blow: queen to e7 (h4·5)
c9-19799naming 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 1290 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.
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 h4, rook e1, pawn b2 h2 f3.
Black: king d7, queen d2, rook f8, pawn d5 a6 b7.
6 white and 6 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 38.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 17 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on b1, the black king on d7.
It is White to move on move 38, with 36 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, e, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, d.
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
38. Qe7+ Kc6 39. Rc1+ Qxc1+ 40. Kxc1
Why it works
- Great move! queen to e7 keeps the pressure (+4.8).
- Spot on — rook to c1 (+4.9).
- Strong! king to c1 is the sharp choice (+5.1).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kc6, then Rc1+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 38. Qe7+ — queen to e7 with check
- Kc6 — king to c6
- 39. Rc1+ — rook to c1 with check
- Qxc1+ — queen to c1 (capture) with check
- 40. Kxc1 — king to c1 (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.
Winning blow
Find the strike that wins material by force.
A winning blow is a forced material gain that does not fit a single textbook motif. The general tactical recipe applies: spot loose pieces, an awkwardly placed king, overloaded lines. Go through the forcing moves in order of violence — checks, captures, threats — because most combinations start with one of them. Do not judge by feel: calculate the concrete line until the outcome is beyond doubt.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #649.
SP-649 · BastionScout — A c- or f-file king with at least one knight out on the edge.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on a1 and f1, the queen on g1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
The bishops stand on d1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a5 once the e- and d-pawns step aside.
The pawn on b2 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 217.
The engine's main line opens with g4.
Morozov Balance Index: 75 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +19 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #649Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-649
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