Winning blow: rook to b7 (b3·3)
c9-22026naming 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 1290 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 h4, rook g1 b3, bishop c1 h1, knight c3, pawn b2 c2 h2 e3 d4 f4.
Black: king c8, queen e8, rook a8 f8, bishop c5 f5, knight b7, pawn a4 c6 d6 g6 h6 e7.
13 white and 13 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 19.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 34 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on b1, the black king on c8.
It is White to move on move 19, with 42 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 6. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: a, g.
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
19. Rxb7 Kxb7 20. dxc5 a3 21. bxa3
Why it works
- Great move! rook to b7 keeps the pressure (+3.4).
- Well found: pawn to c5 (+3.1).
- Precise: pawn to a3 is the top choice (+3.1).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Kxb7, then dxc5 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 19. Rxb7 — rook to b7 (capture)
- Kxb7 — king to b7 (capture)
- 20. dxc5 — pawn to c5 (capture)
- a3 — pawn to a3
- 21. bxa3 — pawn to a3 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Trapped piece
The attacked piece has no safe square — it is caught.
Trapping a piece means the attacked piece has no safe square left — it simply perishes. Do not chase it around; build a cage instead: cut off the escape squares with pawns and pieces first, and attack last. The typical victim has wandered deep into your camp or is stuck at the edge of the board, where its mobility is tiny. And always check the way home for your own raiders — or the trapped piece will be yours.
Remove the defender
Capture the guard first — then take what it protected.
Removing the defender is the straightforward plan: capture the guard first, then take what it guarded. Unlike deflection, the defender is not lured away — it is traded off or destroyed on the spot. Stare at the target you crave and ask who defends it, and whether that defender can be profitably eaten. Count the whole capture sequence, not just the first move — the trade must pay off at the end.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #823.
SP-823 · RampartGuard — The king starts out on a wing file, b or g, with neither knight in a corner.
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and f1, the queen on e1.
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.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 130.
The engine's main line opens with a4.
Morozov Balance Index: 100 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: -5 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
In 50 self-play games White scored 52.0% (95% CI 38.5–65.2%).
Explore position #823Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-823
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