Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to f5 (e4·71)
c9-22457naming 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 c2, rook g1 h4, knight b3 h7, pawn a2 d2 c4 e4.
Black: king d8, rook c8, bishop g7 e8, knight e6, pawn f4 c5 f5 b6 a7 d7.
9 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 22.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 20 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on c2, the black king on d8.
It is White to move on move 22, with 38 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): g, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, f.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
22. exf5 Nd4+ 23. Nxd4 Bxd4 24. Rg8 f3 25. Rf4
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to f5 keeps the pressure (+2.8).
- Well found: knight to d4 (+3.7).
- A natural move: rook to g8.
- Best move. rook to f4 is exactly what the engine plays (+3.4).
- You reach a winning position (+3.4).
- If instead Nd4+, then Nxd4 and you win the knight.
Move by move
- 22. exf5 — pawn to f5 (capture)
- Nd4+ — knight to d4 with check
- 23. Nxd4 — knight to d4 (capture)
- Bxd4 — bishop to d4 (capture)
- 24. Rg8 — rook to g8
- f3 — pawn to f3
- 25. Rf4 — rook to f4
Types in this puzzle
Winning blow
Find the strike that wins material by force.
A winning blow is a forced material gain that does not fit a single textbook motif. The general tactical recipe applies: spot loose pieces, an awkwardly placed king, overloaded lines. Go through the forcing moves in order of violence — checks, captures, threats — because most combinations start with one of them. Do not judge by feel: calculate the concrete line until the outcome is beyond doubt.
Uncastled king
The king lingered in the middle — punish the delay.
Punishing the uncastled king: your opponent delayed castling, and now his king is stuck on its starting square under fire. In Chess960 this is deadlier than in classical chess — the king may start in the center or near the edge, and the familiar defensive setups simply do not apply. The signs: the victim still holds castling rights, and the files toward his king are half-open. Open lines before the king manages to hide.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #315.
SP-315 · ThroneScout — Centre-file king, rim knight: 204 of the 960 positions share this pattern.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and f1, 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 h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
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 353.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 40 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +29 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #315Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-315
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads