Winning blow: queen to c5 (a5)
c9-22222naming 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.
A fork made possible by the Chess960 piece placement.
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.
A set-up fork needs one preparing move before the fork lands — a check that drives the king onto the forking square, or a capture that lines the targets up. Find the preparation first, then the fork it makes possible.
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 a1, queen a5, rook f1 b3, bishop c1 c2, pawn b2 g2 h2 a4 f4.
Black: king a7, queen d7, rook c8 f8, bishop c5 a6, knight f7, pawn d4 f5 e6 c7 g7 h7.
11 white and 13 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 20.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 4 points of material (30 against 34; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on a1, the black king on a7.
It is White to move on move 20, with 40 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 6. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: c, d, e.
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
20. Qxc5+ Ka8 21. Bd3 Rb8 22. Bxa6 Rxb3 23. Qxf8+
Why it works
- Great move! queen to c5 keeps the pressure (+3.3).
- Spot on — bishop to d3 (+3.6).
- Precise: bishop to a6 is the top choice (+3.4).
- Great move! queen to f8 keeps the pressure (+3.5).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Ka8, then Bd3 and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 20. Qxc5+ — queen to c5 (capture) with check
- Ka8 — king to a8
- 21. Bd3 — bishop to d3
- Rb8 — rook to b8
- 22. Bxa6 — bishop to a6 (capture)
- Rxb3 — rook to b3 (capture)
- 23. Qxf8+ — queen to f8 (capture) with check
Types in this puzzle
Setup fork
The random setup allows a fork that classical chess never sees.
A setup fork is a double attack that exists only because of the unusual starting squares — in classical chess these targets never stand side by side. Look for pairs of undefended pieces on your opponent's back rank and for squares from which a knight or pawn hits both at once. Such forks usually appear within the first moves, before the pieces disperse. In every new position, note right away which starting pieces are defended by no one.
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
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 #901.
SP-901 · RampartScout — A wing-file king (b or g) and at least one corner knight: the rarest of the six families, just 72 positions.
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.
The bishops stand on c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: g2, h2.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 58.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 69 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +21 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #901Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-901
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