Winning blow: bishop to g7 (h6·3)
c9-21482naming 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 1060 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 e1, queen c2, rook d1 g1, bishop f3 h6, pawn a2 e2 d4 h5.
Black: king f8, queen c8, rook d8 e8, bishop g7, knight c3 b6, pawn a7 b7 e7 f7 h7.
10 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 21.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 4 points of material (29 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 e1, the black king on f8.
It is White to move on move 21, with 46 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, 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
21. Bxg7+ Kg8 22. Be5+ Qg4 23. Rxg4+
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to g7 keeps the pressure (#5).
- Spot on — bishop to e5 (#4).
- Strong! rook to g4 is the sharp choice (#3).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kg8, then Be5+ and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 21. Bxg7+ — bishop to g7 (capture) with check
- Kg8 — king to g8
- 22. Be5+ — bishop to e5 with check
- Qg4 — queen to g4
- 23. Rxg4+ — rook to g4 (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.
Discovered check
The moving piece opens a check — and is free to grab anything meanwhile.
With a discovered check the moving piece unmasks a check from the piece standing behind it. While the king deals with the check, the piece that moved grabs whatever it likes, free of charge. Look for your long-range piece on a line with the enemy king, with exactly one of your own pieces in between. The rule: among all the ways to step aside, pick the one that captures or attacks the most expensive loot.
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 #311.
SP-311 · ThroneScout — King in the middle of the rank, with a knight already committed to the corner.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on d1 and f1, the queen on b1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 354.
The engine's main line opens with Nf3, bringing the knight out to f3.
Morozov Balance Index: 83 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +16 centipawns for White (depth 49, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #311Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 007 · SP-311
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