Winning blow: knight to c2 (e3·2)
c9-22231naming 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 d2, queen d7, knight e3, pawn a2 e2 h2 c3 g3.
Black: king f6, queen g2, rook c2, bishop b8, pawn d5 e5 a7 b7 h7.
8 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 27.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 5 points of material (17 against 22; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d2, the black king on f6.
It is White to move on move 27, with 5 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle. White are in check right now, so every reply must answer the check.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, d.
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
27. Nxc2 d4 28. cxd4 Qxh2 29. Qd8+ Kf7 30. Qxb8
Why it works
- Great move! knight to c2 keeps the pressure (+4.5).
- Spot on — pawn to d4 (+5.1).
- Precise: queen to d8 is the top choice (+5.3).
- Best move. queen to b8 is exactly what the engine plays (+5.1).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead d4, then cxd4 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 27. Nxc2 — knight to c2 (capture)
- d4 — pawn to d4
- 28. cxd4 — pawn to d4 (capture)
- Qxh2 — queen to h2 (capture)
- 29. Qd8+ — queen to d8 with check
- Kf7 — king to f7
- 30. Qxb8 — queen to b8 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
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.
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.
Mate defense
Mate is threatened — parry it and stay on top.
Mate defense: your opponent is one move from mating you — but it is your turn, and that changes everything. Find the defense that kills the mating threat while keeping your advantage: often a check or a counter-threat that leaves no time for the mate. First name the exact square where the mate would land — otherwise you are defending blind. The mistake is playing a "defensive" move that does not actually remove the threat.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #332.
SP-332 · ThroneScout — The king starts on d or e while at least one knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on c1 and f1, the queen on d1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
The bishops stand on b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- and f-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: b2, g2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 348.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 1 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +59 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
In 50 self-play games White scored 60.0% (95% CI 46.2–72.4%).
Explore position #332Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-332
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