Winning blow: queen to g5 (c1·14)
c9-21435naming 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 1390 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 h2, queen c1, rook c2, bishop g2, knight f5, pawn a2 g3 h4.
Black: king h8, queen e1, rook e6, knight b5 c8, pawn c3 c5 a7 h7.
8 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 30.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (23 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 h2, the black king on h8.
It is White to move on move 30, with 36 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, d, e, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c.
The White king has 1 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
30. Qg5 Qe5 31. Re2 Rg6 32. Rxe5 Rxg5 33. hxg5
Why it works
- Great move! queen to g5 keeps the pressure (+6.0).
- Well found: rook to e2 (+5.8).
- Precise: rook to e5 is the top choice (+5.9).
- Best move. pawn to g5 is exactly what the engine plays (+5.8).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qe5, then Re2 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 30. Qg5 — queen to g5
- Qe5 — queen to e5
- 31. Re2 — rook to e2
- Rg6 — rook to g6
- 32. Rxe5 — rook to e5 (capture)
- Rxg5 — rook to g5 (capture)
- 33. hxg5 — pawn to g5 (capture)
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?
Simplification
Trade the heavy pieces and steer into a won endgame.
Simplification is how you convert an advantage: by trading queens and rooks you extinguish the counterplay and steer the game into a won endgame. The rule is simple — the side with extra material trades pieces but keeps pawns. Look for exchanges once the material is already won and your opponent is still rattling threats. The mistake is avoiding the queen trade and letting him muddy the water forever.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #3.
SP-3 · BastionGuard — King shifted to c or f, knights kept clear of the edges — 168 positions in all.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on e1 and g1, the queen on b1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: d2, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 947.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 72 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +20 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #3Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 010 · SP-3
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