Winning blow: pawn to g6 (h5·6)
c9-21237naming 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 f1, queen h4, rook a1 h1, bishop e1, knight c3, pawn b2 e2 g2 f3 a4 c4 h5.
Black: king f7, queen c5, rook a8 h8, knight g6 c8, pawn a5 e6 f6 h6 b7 c7 d7 g7.
13 white and 14 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 19.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (32 against 33; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on f1, the black king on f7.
It is White to move on move 19, with 35 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 8. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: d.
The White king has 0 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
19. hxg6+ Kxg6 20. Ne4 Qe7 21. Qg3+ Kf7 22. Qxc7
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to g6 keeps the pressure (+4.7).
- Spot on — knight to e4 (+4.5).
- Precise: queen to g3 is the top choice (+4.4).
- Best move. queen to c7 is exactly what the engine plays (+4.7).
- You win a piece — the knight.
- If instead Kxg6, then Ne4 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 19. hxg6+ — pawn to g6 (capture) with check
- Kxg6 — king to g6 (capture)
- 20. Ne4 — knight to e4
- Qe7 — queen to e7
- 21. Qg3+ — queen to g3 with check
- Kf7 — king to f7
- 22. Qxc7 — queen to c7 (capture)
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 #456.
SP-456 · BastionGuard — King off-centre on c or f with both knights on inner files.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on g1.
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 b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 701.
The engine's main line opens with f3.
Morozov Balance Index: 59 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +24 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #456Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-456
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