Winning blow: rook to c5 (c1·10)
c9-22805naming 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 b1, queen f3, rook c1 d1, pawn b2 h2 a4 g4 e5.
Black: king b6, queen e6, rook c5 e8, knight e7, pawn a5 f5 g6 c7.
9 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 28.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (24 against 26; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b1, the black king on b6.
It is White to move on move 28, with 41 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, f.
The White king has 1 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
28. Rxc5 Kxc5 29. Qd3 Qc4 30. Rc1 Qxc1+ 31. Kxc1
Why it works
- Great move! rook to c5 keeps the pressure (+4.1).
- Well found: queen to d3 (+4.4).
- A natural move: rook to c1.
- Great move! king to c1 keeps the pressure (+5.0).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kxc5, then Qd3 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 28. Rxc5 — rook to c5 (capture)
- Kxc5 — king to c5 (capture)
- 29. Qd3 — queen to d3
- Qc4 — queen to c4
- 30. Rc1 — rook to c1
- Qxc1+ — queen to c1 (capture) with check
- 31. Kxc1 — king to c1 (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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #829.
SP-829 · RampartScout — A wing-file king (b or g) and at least one corner knight: the rarest of the six families, just 72 positions.
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and f1, the queen on e1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: g2.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 136.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 24 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +35 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #829Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-829
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