Winning blow: bishop to c2 (a4·2)
c9-21883naming 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 1200 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 d8, rook d7, bishop a4, pawn g2 a3 f3 h4.
Black: king g6, queen e5, rook c5, bishop f6, pawn c3 f4 h5 a7 g7.
8 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 37.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (21 against 22; 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 g6.
It is White to move on move 37, with 34 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): b, d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c.
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
37. Bc2+ Qf5 38. Qe8+ Kh6 39. Qh8+ Kg6 40. Bxf5+
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to c2 keeps the pressure (+6.2).
- Spot on — queen to e8 (+6.5).
- Precise: queen to h8 is the top choice (+6.3).
- Best move. bishop to f5 is exactly what the engine plays (+6.9).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qf5, then Qe8+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 37. Bc2+ — bishop to c2 with check
- Qf5 — queen to f5
- 38. Qe8+ — queen to e8 with check
- Kh6 — king to h6
- 39. Qh8+ — queen to h8 with check
- Kg6 — king to g6
- 40. Bxf5+ — bishop to f5 (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.
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 #237.
SP-237 · ThroneScout — Centre-file king, rim knight: 204 of the 960 positions share this pattern.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on b1 and h1, the queen on c1.
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.
The bishops stand on d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, g2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 632.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 16 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +39 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #237Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-237
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