Winning blow: queen to g2 (g1)
c9-21903naming 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 920 ShuffleRating — for beginners taking their first steps in Chess960 tactics.
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 b1, queen g1, rook a1, bishop e3, knight d1 h1, pawn b2 c2 h2 d3 g3 a6.
Black: king c6, queen f7, rook a8, bishop c8 f8, knight e6 g6, pawn b4 e5 h6 a7 g7.
12 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 16.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (29 against 31; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b1, the black king on c6.
It is White to move on move 16, with 30 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: e.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
16. Qg2+ Kd7 17. Qxa8
Why it works
- Great move! queen to g2 keeps the pressure (+4.7).
- Spot on — queen to a8 (+4.7).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Kd7, then Qxa8 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 16. Qg2+ — queen to g2 with check
- Kd7 — king to d7
- 17. Qxa8 — queen to a8 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Skewer
A line attack forces the valuable piece to move, exposing the one behind it.
A skewer is a pin turned inside out: the valuable piece stands in front and something cheaper hides behind it. The big piece must step aside, and you collect the one that was sheltering in its shadow. Scan for the enemy king or queen sharing a file, rank or diagonal with another enemy piece. The deadliest version comes with check — the king moves, the rook behind it dies.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #838.
SP-838 · RampartScout — A knight in the corner and the king out on the wing (b/g); like every family, it is closed under mirror twins.
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and e1, the queen on g1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
The pawn on c2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 118.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 51 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +26 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #838Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 005 · SP-838
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