Winning blow: rook to f8 (f1·4)
c9-19939naming 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 1060 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 d2, rook a1 f1, knight g1 e4, pawn c2 h2 b3 d3 g3 a4 g5.
Black: king d8, queen d5, rook b8, bishop g4 f8, knight e7, pawn d6 g6 a7 c7 h7.
12 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 20.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 5 points of material (23 against 28; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d2, the black king on d8.
It is White to move on move 20, with 36 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
20. Rxf8+ Kd7 21. Nf6+ Kc6 22. Nxd5
Why it works
- Great move! rook to f8 keeps the pressure (+5.5).
- Well found: knight to f6 (+5.5).
- Strong! knight to d5 is the sharp choice (+5.5).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kd7, then Nf6+ and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 20. Rxf8+ — rook to f8 (capture) with check
- Kd7 — king to d7
- 21. Nf6+ — knight to f6 with check
- Kc6 — king to c6
- 22. Nxd5 — knight to d5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #631.
SP-631 · ThroneGuard — A central king (d or e) and two knights tucked onto inner files: the family that holds the standard array, SP-518.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on a1 and f1, the queen on e1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from d1 to g1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 226.
The engine's main line opens with Nc3, bringing the knight out to c3.
Morozov Balance Index: 86 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +15 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #631Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 006 · SP-631
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