Mate in 2: queen to g4 (c8)
c9-21851naming 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.
Mate in 2: the first move creates an unstoppable threat, the second delivers mate.
Difficulty 1090 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.
Mate in two usually opens with a forcing move — a check, a capture or an unstoppable threat — that strips the king of squares or defenders, so the follow-up mate becomes unavoidable. Look for the first move that leaves the opponent only losing replies.
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 c8, rook d1 f2, knight b1, pawn a2 c2 d2 h2 e3.
Black: king g6, queen g4, pawn b2 b4 c4 d5 h7.
10 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 31.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 13 points of material (27 against 14; 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 g6.
It is White to move on move 31, with 38 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): f, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b.
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
31. Qxg4+ Kh6 32. Rf6#
Why it works
- Best move. queen to g4 is exactly what the engine plays (#1).
- Spot on — rook to f6 (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 2.
- If instead Kh6, then Rf6# and it is mate.
Move by move
- 31. Qxg4+ — queen to g4 (capture) with check
- Kh6 — king to h6
- 32. Rf6# — rook to f6 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Mate in 2
A forced checkmate in two moves.
Mate in two: your move, any reply, then the mating blow. Start with the most forcing first moves — checks and sacrifices that shrink the opponent's options to almost nothing. Against every single reply you must have a mate ready, so check them all without exception. The common failure is analyzing the pretty defense and forgetting the boring one.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #161.
SP-161 · BastionGuard — Off-centre king (c/f), no knight on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on c1 and h1, the queen on g1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 795.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 97 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +6 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #161Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 007 · SP-161
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