Winning blow: queen to c7 (g3·2)
c9-19863naming tag (square·N)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
Position on the board
White: king h2, queen g3, bishop b2 b5, pawn a2 g2 e4 d5.
Black: king g8, queen c7, pawn a5 g6 d7 g7.
8 white and 6 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 36.
Solution & explanation
Main line
36. Qxc7 Kh7 37. Qxd7 Kh6 38. Be2
Why it works
- Best move. queen to c7 is exactly what the engine plays (#4).
- Spot on — queen to d7 (#3).
- A natural move: bishop to e2.
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kh7, then Qxd7 and you win the queen.
Types in this puzzle
Hanging piece
A piece is left without protection — just take it.
A hanging piece is simply an unprotected piece you can take for free. It sounds primitive, yet most amateur games are decided exactly this way. Build the habit: before every move, sweep the board and note every undefended piece, yours and theirs. The classic mistake is hunting for a brilliant combination when all you need to do is bend down and pick up the gift.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #434.
SP-434 · RampartGuard — A b- or g-file king and two knights on inner files (b–g).
The king starts on g1, the rooks on b1 and h1, the queen on e1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
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: c2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 711.
The engine's main line opens with h4.
Morozov Balance Index: 65 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +22 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #434Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-434
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