Winning blow: queen to b8 (g3·3)
c9-20075naming 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 970 ShuffleRating — for beginners taking their first steps in Chess960 tactics.
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 d3, queen g3, rook d1, bishop e2, pawn h2 b3 c3 g4 b5 e6.
Black: king e7, queen a2, rook a3, bishop b6, pawn d5 g5 b7.
10 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 38.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 3 points of material (23 against 20; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d3, the black king on e7.
It is White to move on move 38, with 27 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): a, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d.
The White king has 0 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
38. Qb8 Bf2 39. Qxb7+ Kxe6 40. Qc6+
Why it works
- Great move! queen to b8 keeps the pressure (+4.8).
- Spot on — queen to b7 (+4.7).
- Precise: queen to c6 is the top choice (+4.8).
- You reach a winning position (+4.8).
- If instead Bf2, then Qxb7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 38. Qb8 — queen to b8
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 #349.
SP-349 · BastionScout — A c- or f-file king with at least one knight out on the edge.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on e1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
The bishops stand on d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, g2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 328.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 4 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +50 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #349Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 006 · SP-349
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