Winning blow: queen to d5 (g8·2)
c9-20043naming 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 g8, rook c1 f1, bishop a8, knight e5, pawn d2 g2 h2 a4 b4 d4.
Black: king d8, queen f8, bishop g5, knight g6, pawn d3 f6 c7 h7.
12 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 35.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 12 points of material (31 against 19; 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 d8.
It is White to move on move 35, with 50 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, f.
The White king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
35. Qd5+ Qd6 36. Nf7+ Ke8 37. Nxd6+
Why it works
- Great move! queen to d5 keeps the pressure (#6).
- Spot on — knight to f7 (#5).
- Precise: knight to d6 is the top choice (#4).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qd6, then Nf7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 35. Qd5+ — queen to d5 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 #578.
SP-578 · ThroneScout — The king starts on d or e while at least one knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on b1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
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: h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 279.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 1 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +56 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
In 50 self-play games White scored 62.0% (95% CI 48.2–74.1%).
Explore position #578Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-578
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