Winning blow: bishop to f6 (d4·5)
c9-22822naming 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 f4, rook h8, bishop d4 g4, pawn a2 e3 b4 g5.
Black: king e7, rook c1, bishop e4, knight d8, pawn a3 b5 d5 d6.
8 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 35.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 15 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on f4, the black king on e7.
It is White to move on move 35, with 31 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, f, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
35. Bf6+ Kf7 36. Bh5+ Ke6 37. Re8+ Kd7 38. Rxd8+
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to f6 keeps the pressure (+5.0).
- Spot on — bishop to h5 (+4.9).
- Precise: rook to e8 is the top choice (+5.1).
- Best move. rook to d8 is exactly what the engine plays (+5.2).
- You win a piece — the knight.
- If instead Kf7, then Bh5+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 35. Bf6+ — bishop to f6 with check
- Kf7 — king to f7
- 36. Bh5+ — bishop to h5 with check
- Ke6 — king to e6
- 37. Re8+ — rook to e8 with check
- Kd7 — king to d7
- 38. Rxd8+ — rook to d8 (capture) with check
Types in this puzzle
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
Endgame tactic
Tactics live in the endgame too — strike while material is scarce.
Tactics do not retire when the queens come off: forks, pins and double attacks live on in the endgame. With so little material left, every tactical loss is almost always decisive. The signs are the usual ones — undefended pieces, king and piece on one line, a pawn about to promote. Even in a "technical" ending, scan for a shot before every move, both yours and your opponent's.
Check chase
Every move is a check — the king is chased into losing ground.
In a check chase every one of your moves is a check, so the opponent never gets a free second. The king is herded across the board until it loses a piece or walks into a decisive blow. Such lines are the easiest to calculate: each check allows only a handful of replies, so try them all. Make it a habit to start calculating any sharp position with the checks — they are the most forcing moves on the board.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #473.
SP-473 · BastionGuard — Off-centre king (c/f), no knight on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on a1 and g1, the queen on h1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
The bishops stand on d1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a5 once the e- and d-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: b2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 681.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 7 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +47 centipawns for White (depth 42, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #473Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 010 · SP-473
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads