Winning blow: queen to e4 (h4·2)
c9-20036naming 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 2060 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
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, queen h4, rook c1 e1, bishop h8, knight e3, pawn f2 h2 a3 f5 d6 c7.
Black: king c8, queen f7, rook g5 a8, pawn b5 a7 d7.
12 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 31.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 9 points of material (31 against 22; 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 c8.
It is White to move on move 31, with 50 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b.
The White king has 5 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
31. Qe4 Qa2+ 32. Rc2 Qxc2+ 33. Nxc2
Why it works
- Great move! queen to e4 keeps the pressure (#5).
- rook to c2 develops smoothly.
- Precise: knight to c2 is the top choice (#4).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qa2+, then Nc2 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 31. Qe4 — queen to e4
Types in this puzzle
Quiet move
No check, no capture — yet this modest move decides the game.
A quiet move gives no check and takes nothing — yet it decides the game by creating an unstoppable threat or stealing the king's last square. This is the hardest class of moves: the eye hunts for loud blows while a modest shift does the winning. The clue: every forcing try runs into a defense, so seek the move that strengthens the threat or takes squares away. Train yourself to ask: what if I neither capture nor check, but quietly improve?
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #371.
SP-371 · ThroneGuard — King home on d or e, knights kept off the a- and h-files — the family of the standard starting array.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and e1, the queen on g1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
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 ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 291.
The engine's main line opens with b3.
Morozov Balance Index: 92 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +12 centipawns for White (depth 50, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #371Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 015 · SP-371
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