Winning blow: queen to a6 (e2)
c9-21963naming 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 c1, queen e2, rook d1 f1, bishop a1, knight g1 e5, pawn a2 c2 h2 b3 f4.
Black: king c8, queen h5, rook d8 f8, bishop h8, knight e4 f6, pawn b6 a7 c7 d7 h7.
12 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 13.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 33 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on c1, the black king on c8.
It is White to move on move 13, with 46 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): e, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d.
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
13. Qa6+ Kb8 14. Rxd7 Qxe5 15. Rxd8+ Rxd8 16. fxe5
Why it works
- Great move! queen to a6 keeps the pressure (+5.3).
- Well found: rook to d7 (+5.5).
- Strong! rook to d8 is the sharp choice (+5.6).
- Best move. pawn to e5 is exactly what the engine plays (+5.5).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kb8, then Rxd7 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 13. Qa6+ — queen to a6 with check
- Kb8 — king to b8
- 14. Rxd7 — rook to d7 (capture)
- Qxe5 — queen to e5 (capture)
- 15. Rxd8+ — rook to d8 (capture) with check
- Rxd8 — rook to d8 (capture)
- 16. fxe5 — pawn to e5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Zwischenzug
Before the obvious recapture — an in-between move that wins more.
A zwischenzug means refusing the obvious reply — usually a recapture — and playing a stronger move with tempo first. Typically it is a check or a deadly threat the opponent must answer, after which you calmly take what was hanging anyway. The sign: inside a sequence of exchanges you own a check or a threat that will not run away. Whenever a line looks forced, ask what poison you can slip in between the moves.
Overload
One defender guards two things — it cannot do both jobs.
Overloading exploits a defender with two jobs at once — guarding a piece and covering a mating square, for instance. It cannot do both: your first strike forces it to handle one duty and abandon the other. Find the overworked piece by asking what happens to each of its charges if it gets distracted. Then hit one target and collect the other — an overloaded defender only pretends to defend.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #627.
SP-627 · ThroneGuard — Both knights start on inner files (b–g) while the king sits centrally on d or e — one of 204 positions filed here.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on e1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from d1 to g1.
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: h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 227.
The engine's main line opens with b3.
Morozov Balance Index: 75 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +19 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #627Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-627
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