Winning blow: queen to c2 (g2·2)
c9-20049naming 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 1290 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 c1, queen g2, rook f1 e5, knight b3, pawn a2 h2 e3 d4.
Black: king c8, queen d6, rook c2, knight b4, pawn b5 f5 a6 g6 c7 h7.
9 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 26.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 3 points of material (26 against 23; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on c1, the black king on c8.
It is White to move on move 26, with 3 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle. White are in check right now, so every reply must answer the check.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 6. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: b, c, f, g.
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
26. Qxc2 Nxc2 27. Nc5 Qc6 28. Kxc2
Why it works
- Great move! queen to c2 keeps the pressure (+3.1).
- knight to c5 develops smoothly.
- Precise: king to c2 is the top choice (+2.8).
- You reach a winning position (+2.8).
- If instead Nxc2, then Nc5 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 26. Qxc2 — queen to c2 (capture)
- Nxc2 — knight to c2 (capture)
- 27. Nc5 — knight to c5
- Qc6 — queen to c6
- 28. Kxc2 — king to c2 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Winning exchange
A forced series of captures on one square ends in your favour.
A winning exchange is a forced series of captures on one square that leaves you ahead in material. It is pure arithmetic: count the attackers and defenders of the square and note the value of every piece in the queue. Capture in the right order — cheap pieces first, expensive ones later — or a winning trade turns into a losing one. The classic error is stopping the count halfway and missing the opponent's final recapture.
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 #803.
SP-803 · BastionGuard — Off-centre king (c/f), no knight on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on d1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 147.
The engine's main line opens with g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 34 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +31 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #803Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-803
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