Winning blow: queen to h8 (h7·11)
c9-22287naming 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 1700 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 a2, queen h7, bishop d2 d3, knight f4, pawn b2 g2 e4 g6.
Black: king f8, queen d6, rook c4 c8, pawn a4 b4 e5 f6 b7 d7 g7.
9 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 28.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 4 points of material (22 against 26; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on a2, the black king on f8.
It is White to move on move 28, with 29 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 7. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, d, f.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
28. Qh8+ Ke7 29. Nd5+ Qxd5 30. Qxg7+ Kd6 31. exd5
Why it works
- Great move! queen to h8 keeps the pressure (+6.8).
- Spot on — knight to d5 (+7.0).
- Strong! queen to g7 is the sharp choice (+6.9).
- Great move! pawn to d5 keeps the pressure (+7.1).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Ke7, then Nd5+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 28. Qh8+ — queen to h8 with check
- Ke7 — king to e7
- 29. Nd5+ — knight to d5 with check
- Qxd5 — queen to d5 (capture)
- 30. Qxg7+ — queen to g7 (capture) with check
- Kd6 — king to d6
- 31. exd5 — pawn to d5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Sacrifice attack
Give up material to unleash a decisive attack.
A sacrificial attack gives up material on purpose to rip the king's shelter open and launch a decisive assault. The sac is sound when you get concrete assets in return: open lines to the king, tempi, pieces ready to pour in. The signs: a poorly sheltered king, your forces aimed at its home, defenders stranded far away. The iron rule is to calculate, not hope — once the material is gone, there is no way back.
Zwischenzug
Before the obvious recapture — an in-between move that wins more.
A zwischenzug means refusing the obvious reply — usually a recapture — and playing a stronger move with tempo first. Typically it is a check or a deadly threat the opponent must answer, after which you calmly take what was hanging anyway. The sign: inside a sequence of exchanges you own a check or a threat that will not run away. Whenever a line looks forced, ask what poison you can slip in between the moves.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #298.
SP-298 · ThroneScout — A knight starts on the edge (a/h) and the king sits centrally on d or e; the mirror twin stays in this family too.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on a1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
The bishops stand on e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 373.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 2 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +53 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #298Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 013 · SP-298
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