Winning blow: king to g2 (h1·5)
c9-21768naming 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 1250 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 h1, rook g7 h7, bishop e4, knight c2, pawn a2 b2 e2 h2 c4 d4.
Black: king e6, rook f1 b8, knight d5 b6, pawn e5 d6 a7 b7 c7.
11 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 26.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (22 against 21; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on h1, the black king on e6.
It is White to move on move 26, with 2 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle. White are in check right now, so every reply must answer the check.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): f, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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
26. Kg2 Nxc4 27. Bxd5+ Kxd5 28. Kxf1
Why it works
- Great move! king to g2 keeps the pressure (+5.7).
- Spot on — bishop to d5 (+5.9).
- Precise: king to f1 is the top choice (+5.8).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Nxc4, then Bxd5+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 26. Kg2 — king to g2
- Nxc4 — knight to c4 (capture)
- 27. Bxd5+ — bishop to d5 (capture) with check
- Kxd5 — king to d5 (capture)
- 28. Kxf1 — king to f1 (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.
King evacuation
The king walks out of the danger zone on its own feet.
King evacuation: when the shelter collapses, the king walks out of the attack on his own feet — sometimes across half the board. A series of precise king moves carries him out of the firing zone, and the enemy attack dissolves. The signs: no direct defense works, but there is a route over unattacked squares to a quiet corner. Calculate the entire journey in advance — a king stranded halfway usually dies there.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #139.
SP-139 · BastionScout — A c- or f-file king with at least one knight out on the edge.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on b1 and g1, the queen on c1.
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 h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
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 817.
The engine's main line opens with d3.
Morozov Balance Index: 43 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +28 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #139Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-139
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