Winning blow: knight to c5 (a4·2)
c9-20695naming 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.
A fork made possible by the Chess960 piece placement.
Winning tactic: there is a move that gains a decisive advantage — find it.
Difficulty 920 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.
A set-up fork needs one preparing move before the fork lands — a check that drives the king onto the forking square, or a capture that lines the targets up. Find the preparation first, then the fork it makes possible.
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 h1, rook f1, bishop b2, knight e1 a4, pawn a2 g2 b3 h3 f4.
Black: king d7, queen e4, rook g8, bishop b8, knight h4, pawn c5 a6 e6 h6 f7 g7.
10 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 28.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 7 points of material (19 against 26; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on h1, the black king on d7.
It is White to move on move 28, with 22 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, e.
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
28. Nxc5+ Kc6 29. Nxe4
Why it works
- Great move! knight to c5 keeps the pressure (+4.4).
- Well found: knight to e4 (+4.3).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kc6, then Nxe4 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 28. Nxc5+ — knight to c5 (capture) with check
- Kc6 — king to c6
- 29. Nxe4 — knight to e4 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Setup fork
The random setup allows a fork that classical chess never sees.
A setup fork is a double attack that exists only because of the unusual starting squares — in classical chess these targets never stand side by side. Look for pairs of undefended pieces on your opponent's back rank and for squares from which a knight or pawn hits both at once. Such forks usually appear within the first moves, before the pieces disperse. In every new position, note right away which starting pieces are defended by no one.
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.
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #597.
SP-597 · BastionScout — Off-centre king plus a rim knight (a/h): 168 positions carry this shape.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on a1 and g1, the queen on b1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
The bishops stand on c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 266.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 91 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +13 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #597Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 005 · SP-597
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