Winning blow: king to f2 (e1·13)
c9-22422naming 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 e1, rook b1 h1, bishop a1, knight d7, pawn a2 c2 b3 e4 c5 h5.
Black: king g8, queen f2, rook c8 f8, knight a7 b7, pawn b4 a5 g5 f6 f7 h7.
11 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 22.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 9 points of material (22 against 31; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on e1, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 22, with 2 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 6 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: f, g.
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
22. Kxf2 Nxc5 23. Nxf6+ Kg7 24. Nd7+ f6 25. Nxf8
Why it works
- Great move! king to f2 keeps the pressure (+2.9).
- Spot on — knight to f6 (+3.1).
- Precise: knight to d7 is the top choice (+2.9).
- Best move. knight to f8 is exactly what the engine plays (+3.1).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Nxc5, then Nxf6+ and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 22. Kxf2 — king to f2 (capture)
- Nxc5 — knight to c5 (capture)
- 23. Nxf6+ — knight to f6 (capture) with check
- Kg7 — king to g7
- 24. Nd7+ — knight to d7 with check
- f6 — pawn to f6
- 25. Nxf8 — knight to f8 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Discovered check
The moving piece opens a check — and is free to grab anything meanwhile.
With a discovered check the moving piece unmasks a check from the piece standing behind it. While the king deals with the check, the piece that moved grabs whatever it likes, free of charge. Look for your long-range piece on a line with the enemy king, with exactly one of your own pieces in between. The rule: among all the ways to step aside, pick the one that captures or attacks the most expensive loot.
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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #515.
SP-515 · ThroneGuard — King home on d or e, knights kept off the a- and h-files — the family of the standard starting array.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on b1 and g1, the queen on d1.
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.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The pawn on f2 is defended by the king alone — the classic soft spot of the standard setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 531.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 69 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +21 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #515Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-515
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