Winning blow: rook to f8 (f1·5)
c9-20722naming 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 1060 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 a1, queen c6, rook c1 f1, bishop d3, knight d4, pawn a2 d2 b3 e3 g4 h4.
Black: king d8, queen e7, rook a5 b8, knight e4, pawn g5 a7 h7.
12 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 31.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 6 points of material (31 against 25; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on a1, the black king on d8.
It is White to move on move 31, with 59 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): c, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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
31. Rf8+ Qxf8 32. Qc7+ Ke8 33. Qxb8+
Why it works
- Best move. rook to f8 is exactly what the engine plays (#8).
- Well found: queen to c7 (#7).
- Strong! queen to b8 is the sharp choice (#6).
- You win decisive material (+15.0).
- If instead Qxf8, then Qc7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 31. Rf8+ — rook to f8 with check
- Qxf8 — queen to f8 (capture)
- 32. Qc7+ — queen to c7 with check
- Ke8 — king to e8
- 33. Qxb8+ — queen to b8 (capture) with check
Types in this puzzle
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.
Check chase
Every move is a check — the king is chased into losing ground.
In a check chase every one of your moves is a check, so the opponent never gets a free second. The king is herded across the board until it loses a piece or walks into a decisive blow. Such lines are the easiest to calculate: each check allows only a handful of replies, so try them all. Make it a habit to start calculating any sharp position with the checks — they are the most forcing moves on the board.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #602.
SP-602 · ThroneScout — The king starts on d or e while at least one knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on a1 and g1, the queen on b1.
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 e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 261.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 6 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +48 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #602Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 006 · SP-602
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