Winning blow: rook to h5 (g5·3)
c9-19950naming 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 f2, queen a2, rook f1 g5, bishop e3 f7, pawn h2 f3 g3.
Black: king h8, queen d3, rook d8, pawn b4 h4.
9 white and 5 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 32.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 12 points of material (28 against 16; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on f2, the black king on h8.
It is White to move on move 32, with 56 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 2. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, c, d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b.
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
32. Rh5+ Kg7 33. Bh6+ Kh8 34. Bf8+
Why it works
- Best move. rook to h5 is exactly what the engine plays (#4).
- Spot on — bishop to h6 (#3).
- Precise: bishop to f8 is the top choice (#2).
- You win decisive material (+15.0).
- If instead Kg7, then Bh6+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 32. Rh5+ — rook to h5 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 #373.
SP-373 · ThroneScout — A central king (d or e), but with a knight posted out on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on h1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
The bishops stand on c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 298.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 3 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +51 centipawns for White (depth 42, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #373Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-373
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