Winning blow: pawn to d5 (d4·3)
c9-21231naming 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 970 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.
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 g1, queen f6, rook e1, bishop b1 a3, pawn a2 f2 g2 b3 d4 g5.
Black: king g8, queen g4, bishop b7 b8, knight e5, pawn h5 b6 g6 a7 f7.
11 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 26.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 3 points of material (26 against 23; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g1, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 26, with 42 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: h.
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
26. d5 Bd6 27. Be4 Bxa3 28. Qxe5
Why it works
- Best move. pawn to d5 is exactly what the engine plays (+4.1).
- Spot on — bishop to e4 (+4.1).
- Strong! queen to e5 is the sharp choice (+4.2).
- You reach a winning position (+4.2).
- If instead Bc7, then Be4 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 26. d5 — pawn to d5
Types in this puzzle
Quiet move
No check, no capture — yet this modest move decides the game.
A quiet move gives no check and takes nothing — yet it decides the game by creating an unstoppable threat or stealing the king's last square. This is the hardest class of moves: the eye hunts for loud blows while a modest shift does the winning. The clue: every forcing try runs into a defense, so seek the move that strengthens the threat or takes squares away. Train yourself to ask: what if I neither capture nor check, but quietly improve?
Mate defense
Mate is threatened — parry it and stay on top.
Mate defense: your opponent is one move from mating you — but it is your turn, and that changes everything. Find the defense that kills the mating threat while keeping your advantage: often a check or a counter-threat that leaves no time for the mate. First name the exact square where the mate would land — otherwise you are defending blind. The mistake is playing a "defensive" move that does not actually remove the threat.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #432.
SP-432 · RampartGuard — King on the wing (b/g) with both knights on inner files.
The king starts on g1, the rooks on c1 and h1, the queen on f1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: d2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 719.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 95 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +3 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
In 50 self-play games White scored 54.0% (95% CI 40.4–67.0%).
Explore position #432Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 006 · SP-432
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