Winning blow: rook to e3 (e1·12)
c9-20213naming tag (square·N)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
Position on the board
White: king g2, queen c4, rook e1, knight b1 f3, pawn d2 h3 b4.
Black: king b8, bishop e3, pawn g3 a6 b6 e7 f7.
8 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 33.
Solution & explanation
Main line
33. Rxe3 e6 34. Qc6 b5 35. Qb6+
Why it works
- Best move. rook to e3 is exactly what the engine plays (#4).
- queen to c6 develops smoothly.
- Precise: queen to b6 is the top choice (#2).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead e6, then Rc3 and you win the bishop.
Types in this puzzle
Hanging piece
A piece is left without protection — just take it.
A hanging piece is simply an unprotected piece you can take for free. It sounds primitive, yet most amateur games are decided exactly this way. Build the habit: before every move, sweep the board and note every undefended piece, yours and theirs. The classic mistake is hunting for a brilliant combination when all you need to do is bend down and pick up the gift.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #307.
SP-307 · ThroneGuard — A central king (d or e) and two knights tucked onto inner files: the family that holds the standard array, SP-518.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on d1 and f1, the queen on c1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
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 ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 355.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 28 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +33 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #307Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-307
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