Winning blow: bishop to d4 (e5·3)
c9-22415naming 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 f2, rook c1 h1, bishop e5, pawn e2 f3 a4 f4.
Black: king g8, queen d4, rook g6, bishop a8, knight d5, pawn c4 f5 a7 h7.
8 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 28.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 7 points of material (17 against 24; 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 g8.
It is White to move on move 28, with 4 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 4 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, d, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, h.
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. Bxd4 Nxf4 29. Be5 Rg2+ 30. Kf1 Rxe2 31. Bxf4
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to d4 keeps the pressure (+4.5).
- bishop to e5 develops smoothly.
- Precise: king to f1 is the top choice (+4.3).
- Best move. bishop to f4 is exactly what the engine plays (+4.6).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Nxf4, then Be5 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 28. Bxd4 — bishop to d4 (capture)
- Nxf4 — knight to f4 (capture)
- 29. Be5 — bishop to e5
- Rg2+ — rook to g2 with check
- 30. Kf1 — king to f1
- Rxe2 — rook to e2 (capture)
- 31. Bxf4 — bishop to f4 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Remove the defender
Capture the guard first — then take what it protected.
Removing the defender is the straightforward plan: capture the guard first, then take what it guarded. Unlike deflection, the defender is not lured away — it is traded off or destroyed on the spot. Stare at the target you crave and ask who defends it, and whether that defender can be profitably eaten. Count the whole capture sequence, not just the first move — the trade must pay off at the end.
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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #131.
SP-131 · BastionGuard — Off-centre king (c/f), no knight on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on d1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 819.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 100 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: 0 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
In 50 self-play games White scored 50.0% (95% CI 36.6–63.4%).
Explore position #131Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-131
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads