Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to c6 (f3·3)
c9-22248naming 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.
Uncastled king: the enemy king is stuck in the centre — punish it before it castles.
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.
An uncastled king in the centre is a standing target. Look for ways to open the central files and diagonals against it with checks and threats before it can shelter — every tempo the king spends in the middle is a chance for a combination.
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 f2, queen a4, rook b1 h1, bishop f3, knight c3, pawn c2 g2 d3 e3 f4 h5.
Black: king e8, queen d7, rook c8 h8, bishop f7, knight c6 h6, pawn c4 c5 f6 e7 g7 h7.
12 white and 13 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 21.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 3 points of material (31 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 f2, the black king on e8.
It is White to move on move 21, with 56 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, b — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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
21. Bxc6 Qxc6 22. Qxc6+ Rxc6 23. Rb8+ Kd7 24. Rxh8
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to c6 keeps the pressure (+2.8).
- Well found: queen to c6 (+3.2).
- Strong! rook to b8 is the sharp choice (+3.2).
- Great move! rook to h8 keeps the pressure (+3.2).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qxc6, then Qxc6+ and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 21. Bxc6 — bishop to c6 (capture)
- Qxc6 — queen to c6 (capture)
- 22. Qxc6+ — queen to c6 (capture) with check
- Rxc6 — rook to c6 (capture)
- 23. Rb8+ — rook to b8 with check
- Kd7 — king to d7
- 24. Rxh8 — rook to h8 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Skewer
A line attack forces the valuable piece to move, exposing the one behind it.
A skewer is a pin turned inside out: the valuable piece stands in front and something cheaper hides behind it. The big piece must step aside, and you collect the one that was sheltering in its shadow. Scan for the enemy king or queen sharing a file, rank or diagonal with another enemy piece. The deadliest version comes with check — the king moves, the rook behind it dies.
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.
Simplification
Trade the heavy pieces and steer into a won endgame.
Simplification is how you convert an advantage: by trading queens and rooks you extinguish the counterplay and steer the game into a won endgame. The rule is simple — the side with extra material trades pieces but keeps pawns. Look for exchanges once the material is already won and your opponent is still rattling threats. The mistake is avoiding the queen trade and letting him muddy the water forever.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #205.
SP-205 · ThroneGuard — A central king (d or e) and two knights tucked onto inner files: the family that holds the standard array, SP-518.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on c1 and h1, the queen on a1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
The bishops stand on d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: g2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 664.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 72 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +20 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #205Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-205
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