Winning blow: queen to f4 (e3·2)
c9-21758naming 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 b2, queen e3, rook e1 h1, bishop c3 e6, knight f2, pawn c2 a3 d4 g4 a5.
Black: king d8, queen f4, rook e8 g8, bishop d6 c8, knight c6, pawn c4 d5 f6 c7 h7.
12 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 23.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 33 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on b2, the black king on d8.
It is White to move on move 23, with 44 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: f, h.
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
23. Qxf4 Bxf4 24. Bxd5 Ne7 25. Bxg8
Why it works
- Great move! queen to f4 keeps the pressure (+4.6).
- Spot on — bishop to d5 (+4.8).
- Precise: bishop to g8 is the top choice (+5.0).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Bxf4, then Bxd5 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 23. Qxf4 — queen to f4 (capture)
- Bxf4 — bishop to f4 (capture)
- 24. Bxd5 — bishop to d5 (capture)
- Ne7 — knight to e7
- 25. Bxg8 — bishop to g8 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Bishop fork
The bishop attacks two pieces on crossing diagonals at once.
A bishop fork happens when the bishop lands where two diagonals cross and attacks a target on each of them. Both victims must stand on the bishop's color — that is the first thing to verify. Scan for loose enemy pieces that share the color of squares with their own king or queen. A common sin is placing your own pieces on squares of one color and handing your opponent exactly this geometry.
Counter-strike
Don't defend — answer the threat with a bigger one.
The counter-strike: instead of defending against the threat, you answer with a bigger threat of your own. While your opponent grabs a pawn, you deliver mate — the arithmetic favors you. Look for a counter when direct defenses fail: do you have a check, an attack on the queen, a mating threat? The beginner's error is meeting every threat with a reflexive defense without checking the counterattacking resources first.
Discovered attack
A piece steps aside and opens a second attack from the piece behind it.
A discovered attack works like a curtain: one piece steps off the line and unveils the long-range piece behind it. The beauty is that the moving piece can create a second threat of its own — two attacks in one move. Look for your stacked pairs: a bishop or rook behind a knight or pawn, aimed through them at something valuable. Send the front piece to the most aggressive square — a discovery without a second threat wastes half its power.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #818.
SP-818 · BastionScout — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, and a knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and g1, the queen on e1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
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: a2, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 135.
The engine's main line opens with d4, 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 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #818Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 007 · SP-818
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