Winning blow: bishop to c6 (g2·2)
c9-22166naming 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 e1, bishop g2, knight c3, pawn b2 h2 e3 a7.
Black: king e8, queen c6, rook g8, knight f7, pawn d6 g6 h7.
7 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 27.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 10 points of material (10 against 20; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on e1, the black king on e8.
It is White to move on move 27, with 29 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d, g.
The White king has 5 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
27. Bxc6+ Ke7 28. Nd5+ Ke6 29. a8=Q Rxa8 30. Bxa8
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to c6 keeps the pressure (+5.5).
- Spot on — knight to d5 (+6.1).
- Precise: pawn to a8 is the top choice (+5.1).
- Best move. bishop to a8 is exactly what the engine plays (+5.2).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Ke7, then Nd5+ and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 27. Bxc6+ — bishop to c6 (capture) with check
- Ke7 — king to e7
- 28. Nd5+ — knight to d5 with check
- Ke6 — king to e6
- 29. a8=Q — pawn to a8
- Rxa8 — rook to a8 (capture)
- 30. Bxa8 — bishop to a8 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
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.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
Promotion
The pawn reaches the last rank and becomes a queen — decisively.
Promotion turns a pawn on the last rank into a queen and rewrites the evaluation on the spot. In tactics the passer rarely walks in for free — usually a sacrifice clears its path. Count the tempi: how many moves does the pawn need, and can the defender stop it in time? And watch the promotion square itself — it must be out of enemy reach or won by force in your combination.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #198.
SP-198 · ThroneGuard — King on a central file (d/e) with both knights on inner files — the classic-type setup.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on d1 and h1, the queen on a1.
The queenside rook already stands on d1, so castling long moves only the king, from e1 to c1.
The bishops stand on c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: c2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 662.
The engine's main line opens with Nf3, bringing the knight out to f3.
Morozov Balance Index: 83 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +16 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #198Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-198
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