Winning blow: rook to b4 (a4·2)
c9-21316naming 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 1700 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
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 c1, queen g4, rook a4, bishop f1 h4, knight c3, pawn b2 g2 h2 f3 a5.
Black: king b7, queen f7, rook d6 a8, bishop d5, pawn c4 e5 a6 c6 c7 g7 h7.
11 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 24.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (28 against 29; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on c1, the black king on b7.
It is White to move on move 24, with 45 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 7. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, e.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
24. Rb4+ Ka7 25. Bf2+ c5 26. Bxc5+ Rb6 27. axb6+
Why it works
- Great move! rook to b4 keeps the pressure (+9.8).
- Well found: bishop to f2 (+10.0).
- Strong! bishop to c5 is the sharp choice (+10.4).
- Best move. pawn to b6 is exactly what the engine plays (#19).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Ka7, then Bf2+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 24. Rb4+ — rook to b4 with check
- Ka7 — king to a7
- 25. Bf2+ — bishop to f2 with check
- c5 — pawn to c5
- 26. Bxc5+ — bishop to c5 (capture) with check
- Rb6 — rook to b6
- 27. axb6+ — pawn to b6 (capture) with check
Types in this puzzle
Win the pinned piece
The pinned piece cannot run — attack it again and win it.
A pinned piece cannot flee, which means you can win it outright by attacking it one more time. Count attackers against defenders: if you outnumber them, the piece is yours. The best extra attacker is a pawn, since it costs less than anything it might capture. Do not rush the capture — build up the pressure first, then harvest.
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 #942.
SP-942 · RampartScout — King on the wing (b/g) with a knight on the rim (a/h) — the rarest family.
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and c1, the queen on e1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 20.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 86 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +15 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #942Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 013 · SP-942
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