Winning blow: queen to b3 (e3)
c9-21956naming 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 b1, queen e3, bishop h1, knight g4, pawn b2 c2 h2 c6 f6.
Black: king b5, queen f8, rook d8, bishop b3 h8, pawn a5 h5 d6.
9 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 28.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 3 points of material (20 against 23; 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 b5.
It is White to move on move 28, with 40 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, d.
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
28. Qxb3+ Kc5 29. Qd5+ Kb6 30. c7 Rb8 31. cxb8=R+
Why it works
- Great move! queen to b3 keeps the pressure (+7.7).
- Spot on — queen to d5 (+8.8).
- A natural move: pawn to c7.
- Best move. pawn to b8 is exactly what the engine plays (+10.4).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Kc5, then Qd5+ and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 28. Qxb3+ — queen to b3 (capture) with check
- Kc5 — king to c5
- 29. Qd5+ — queen to d5 with check
- Kb6 — king to b6
- 30. c7 — pawn to c7
- Rb8 — rook to b8
- 31. cxb8=R+ — pawn to b8 (capture) with check
Types in this puzzle
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
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.
Underpromotion
Promoting to a knight or rook — not a queen — is the only way to win.
Underpromotion means choosing a knight, rook or bishop instead of a queen — and winning precisely because of it. The usual hero is the knight, which delivers a check or a fork from the promotion square in a way no queen can. A rook is chosen when a fresh queen would produce stalemate. When your pawn reaches the last rank, never promote on autopilot — first ask what the knight can do.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #831.
SP-831 · RampartGuard — King pushed to the b- or g-file, knights off the edges — 144 positions here.
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and e1, the queen on d1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
The pawn on b2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 128.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 69 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +21 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #831Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-831
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