Winning blow: knight to c5 (e4·6)
c9-20734naming 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 1280 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 d1, queen b7, rook a3, bishop b1 g3, knight a1 e4, pawn a2 b2 d2 e2 g2 h2 g5.
Black: king e6, queen g8, rook f8, bishop e8, knight h8, pawn f3 d5 e7 h7.
14 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 17.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 9 points of material (33 against 24; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d1, the black king on e6.
It is White to move on move 17, with 54 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: f.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
17. Nc5+ Kf7 18. Rxf3+ Kg7 19. Be5+
Why it works
- Best move. knight to c5 is exactly what the engine plays (#4).
- Well found: rook to f3 (#3).
- Precise: bishop to e5 is the top choice (#2).
- You win decisive material (+15.0).
- If instead Kf7, then Rxf3+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 17. Nc5+ — knight to c5 with check
Types in this puzzle
Winning blow
Find the strike that wins material by force.
A winning blow is a forced material gain that does not fit a single textbook motif. The general tactical recipe applies: spot loose pieces, an awkwardly placed king, overloaded lines. Go through the forcing moves in order of violence — checks, captures, threats — because most combinations start with one of them. Do not judge by feel: calculate the concrete line until the outcome is beyond doubt.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #360.
SP-360 · ThroneScout — King on a central file (d/e) with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and f1, the queen on g1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: b2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 317.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 14 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +40 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #360Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-360
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