Winning blow: queen to g6 (g4·4)
c9-22538naming 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 1430 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 g2, queen g4, rook h1, bishop d2, knight e4, pawn f2 e3 h6.
Black: king e8, queen d5, rook g6, bishop d8, pawn a7 b7 e7 f7.
8 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 36.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 2 points of material (23 against 21; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g2, the black king on e8.
It is White to move on move 36, with 28 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, b.
The White king has 6 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
36. Qxg6 fxg6 37. h7 Qxe4+ 38. f3 Qd3 39. h8=Q+
Why it works
- Great move! queen to g6 keeps the pressure (+5.0).
- Well found: pawn to h7 (+5.0).
- A natural move: pawn to f3.
- Best move. pawn to h8 is exactly what the engine plays (+5.0).
- You win decisive material (+5.0).
- If instead fxg6, then h7 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 36. Qxg6 — queen to g6 (capture)
- fxg6 — pawn to g6 (capture)
- 37. h7 — pawn to h7
- Qxe4+ — queen to e4 (capture) with check
- 38. f3 — pawn to f3
- Qd3 — queen to d3
- 39. h8=Q+ — pawn to h8 with check
Types in this puzzle
Decoy
A sacrifice lures the king or a piece onto a fatal square.
A decoy is the mirror image of deflection: you sacrifice to drag the king or a piece onto a fatal square. The classic is a queen or rook sac whose capture pulls the king into a knight fork, a discovered check or mate. Find the square where the target will be hit, then find the offer it cannot refuse. Calculate to the very end — a decoy only works when the follow-up is forced.
Promotion
The pawn reaches the last rank and becomes a queen — decisively.
Promotion turns a pawn on the last rank into a queen and rewrites the evaluation on the spot. In tactics the passer rarely walks in for free — usually a sacrifice clears its path. Count the tempi: how many moves does the pawn need, and can the defender stop it in time? And watch the promotion square itself — it must be out of enemy reach or won by force in your combination.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #565.
SP-565 · ThroneGuard — A central king (d or e) and two knights tucked onto inner files: the family that holds the standard array, SP-518.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on a1 and g1, the queen on h1.
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.
The bishops stand on c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
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 490.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 6 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +60 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
In 50 self-play games White scored 52.0% (95% CI 38.5–65.2%).
Explore position #565Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 010 · SP-565
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