Winning blow: bishop to c6 (g2·3)
c9-22830naming 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 c1, rook a1 f1, bishop e1 g2, knight e2 c3, pawn b2 c2 h2 e3 a4 f4 e5.
Black: king b8, queen f7, rook a6 d8, bishop c6 h8, knight e6 g8, pawn d4 a5 f5 b7 c7 h7.
15 white and 14 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 16.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (38 against 37; 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 b8.
It is White to move on move 16, with 33 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d.
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
16. Bxc6 dxc3 17. Bb5 cxb2 18. Kxb2 Rad6 19. Bxa5
Why it works
- Brilliant! The bishop on c6 is a sacrifice that works — you stand better (+2.7).
- Well found: bishop to b5 (+2.8).
- Precise: king to b2 is the top choice (+2.9).
- Best move. bishop to a5 is exactly what the engine plays (+2.7).
- You reach a winning position (+2.7).
- If instead dxc3, then Bb5 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 16. Bxc6 — bishop to c6 (capture)
- dxc3 — pawn to c3 (capture)
- 17. Bb5 — bishop to b5
- cxb2 — pawn to b2 (capture)
- 18. Kxb2 — king to b2 (capture)
- Rad6 — rook to d6
- 19. Bxa5 — bishop to a5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Overload
One defender guards two things — it cannot do both jobs.
Overloading exploits a defender with two jobs at once — guarding a piece and covering a mating square, for instance. It cannot do both: your first strike forces it to handle one duty and abandon the other. Find the overworked piece by asking what happens to each of its charges if it gets distracted. Then hit one target and collect the other — an overloaded defender only pretends to defend.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #811.
SP-811 · RampartGuard — The king starts out on a wing file, b or g, with neither knight in a corner.
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and f1, the queen on c1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
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 RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 145.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 28 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +33 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #811Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-811
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