Winning blow: bishop to a7 (b6·2)
c9-21979naming 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 1430 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 a2, queen e6, rook b3, bishop b6 c6, pawn b2 g2 a5.
Black: king b8, queen c2, rook d6, bishop g3, knight f6, pawn c5 a6 b7 g7 h7.
8 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 33.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (23 against 25; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on a2, the black king on b8.
It is White to move on move 33, with 40 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d, e, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, h.
White 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
33. Ba7+ Kc7 34. Bb8+ Kd8 35. Bxd6 Qxb3+ 36. Kxb3
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to a7 keeps the pressure (#23).
- Well found: bishop to b8 (#13).
- Strong! bishop to d6 is the sharp choice (#10).
- Great move! king to b3 keeps the pressure (#9).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kc7, then Bb8+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 33. Ba7+ — bishop to a7 with check
- Kc7 — king to c7
- 34. Bb8+ — bishop to b8 with check
- Kd8 — king to d8
- 35. Bxd6 — bishop to d6 (capture)
- Qxb3+ — queen to b3 (capture) with check
- 36. Kxb3 — king to b3 (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.
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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #917.
SP-917 · RampartScout — King on b or g with a knight already on the edge — the least common of the position families (72 in all).
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and e1, the queen on f1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 42.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 28 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +33 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #917Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 010 · SP-917
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