Winning blow: rook to c7 (c8·4)
c9-19826naming 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 1280 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 e2, rook c1 c8, bishop a1, knight f3 e5, pawn g2 h2.
Black: king e7, queen g8, rook e8 h8, pawn a3 c5 f5 f6 g7 h7.
9 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 31.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 5 points of material (30 against 25; 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 e7.
It is White to move on move 31, with 51 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 2 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, c, f.
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
31. Rc7+ Kf8 32. Nd7+ Kf7 33. Nxf6+
Why it works
- Great move! rook to c7 keeps the pressure (#7).
- Well found: knight to d7 (#6).
- Precise: knight to f6 is the top choice (#5).
- You win decisive material (+15.0).
- If instead Kf8, then Nd7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 31. Rc7+ — rook to c7 with check
Types in this puzzle
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 #721.
SP-721 · BastionGuard — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, with neither knight in a corner.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and h1, the queen on f1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 427.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 20 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +37 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #721Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-721
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