Winning blow: rook to h7 (g7·5)
c9-22316naming 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 1290 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 e2, queen a1, rook g7, bishop e4, pawn d2 a3 e3 h4 h6.
Black: king h8, queen f6, rook f8, bishop a8, knight e5, pawn d5 b6.
9 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 28.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 22 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on e2, the black king on h8.
It is White to move on move 28, with 43 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 2. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, f, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b.
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. Rh7+ Kg8 29. Qg1+ Ng6 30. Bxg6
Why it works
- Great move! rook to h7 keeps the pressure (+7.9).
- Well found: queen to g1 (+8.5).
- Precise: bishop to g6 is the top choice (+7.6).
- You win a piece — the knight.
- If instead Kg8, then Qg1+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 28. Rh7+ — rook to h7 with check
- Kg8 — king to g8
- 29. Qg1+ — queen to g1 with check
- Ng6 — knight to g6
- 30. Bxg6 — bishop to g6 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Win the pinned piece
The pinned piece cannot run — attack it again and win it.
A pinned piece cannot flee, which means you can win it outright by attacking it one more time. Count attackers against defenders: if you outnumber them, the piece is yours. The best extra attacker is a pawn, since it costs less than anything it might capture. Do not rush the capture — build up the pressure first, then harvest.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #674.
SP-674 · ThroneGuard — The king starts in the middle of the back rank, on d or e, and neither knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and h1, the queen on b1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: f2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 471.
The engine's main line opens with e3.
Morozov Balance Index: 91 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +13 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #674Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-674
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