Winning blow: queen to a7 (e3·4)
c9-22052naming 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 1890 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
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 d1, queen e3, rook d7, pawn a2 d2 g5.
Black: king c8, queen f8, rook e8, pawn b5 c6 e6 g6.
6 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 36.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (17 against 18; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d1, the black king on c8.
It is White to move on move 36, with 39 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): f, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, c, e.
The White king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
36. Qa7 Qf1+ 37. Kc2 Qf5+ 38. Kc1 Qc5+ 39. Qxc5
Why it works
- Great move! queen to a7 keeps the pressure (+5.6).
- king to c2 develops smoothly.
- A natural move: king to c1.
- Great move! queen to c5 keeps the pressure (+6.1).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qf1+, then Kc2 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 36. Qa7 — queen to a7
- Qf1+ — queen to f1 with check
- 37. Kc2 — king to c2
- Qf5+ — queen to f5 with check
- 38. Kc1 — king to c1
- Qc5+ — queen to c5 with check
- 39. Qxc5 — queen to c5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Quiet move
No check, no capture — yet this modest move decides the game.
A quiet move gives no check and takes nothing — yet it decides the game by creating an unstoppable threat or stealing the king's last square. This is the hardest class of moves: the eye hunts for loud blows while a modest shift does the winning. The clue: every forcing try runs into a defense, so seek the move that strengthens the threat or takes squares away. Train yourself to ask: what if I neither capture nor check, but quietly improve?
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #641.
SP-641 · ThroneScout — King in the middle of the rank, with a knight already committed to the corner.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on g1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The pawn on d2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 219.
The engine's main line opens with b3.
Morozov Balance Index: 83 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +16 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #641Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 014 · SP-641
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads