Winning blow: pawn to e6 (d5·17)
c9-20387naming 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 1200 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, rook d1, bishop g1, knight c3 h4, pawn b2 h2 a3 g3 e4 f4 d5.
Black: king d8, queen e6, rook h8, bishop f8, knight a6 d6, pawn c4 b6 f6 a7 g7 h7.
12 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 19.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 8 points of material (21 against 29; 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 d8.
It is White to move on move 19, with 30 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 6. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: c.
The White king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
19. dxe6 Kc8 20. Nd5 Nxe4 21. e7 Bxe7 22. Nxe7+
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to e6 keeps the pressure (+4.1).
- knight to d5 develops smoothly.
- Precise: pawn to e7 is the top choice (+4.5).
- Great move! knight to e7 keeps the pressure (+4.4).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kc8, then Nd5 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 19. dxe6 — pawn to e6 (capture)
- Kc8 — king to c8
- 20. Nd5 — knight to d5
- Nxe4 — knight to e4 (capture)
- 21. e7 — pawn to e7
- Bxe7 — bishop to e7 (capture)
- 22. Nxe7+ — knight to e7 (capture) with check
Types in this puzzle
Remove the defender
Capture the guard first — then take what it protected.
Removing the defender is the straightforward plan: capture the guard first, then take what it guarded. Unlike deflection, the defender is not lured away — it is traded off or destroyed on the spot. Stare at the target you crave and ask who defends it, and whether that defender can be profitably eaten. Count the whole capture sequence, not just the first move — the trade must pay off at the end.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #526.
SP-526 · ThroneGuard — A centre-file king with no knight on the edge; a position and its mirror twin always share this family.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on c1.
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.
The bishops stand on f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 532.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 26 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +34 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #526Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-526
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