Winning blow: rook to a6 (d6)
c9-22845naming 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 f2, rook h1 d6, knight e3, pawn e2 f3 g4 b5 a7.
Black: king e8, queen a6, rook h4 c8, knight g6, pawn h3 g5 e6 d7 f7.
9 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 35.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 9 points of material (18 against 27; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on f2, the black king on e8.
It is White to move on move 35, with 37 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d, h.
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
35. Rxa6 Ra8 36. b6 Rh8 37. b7 Ke7 38. bxa8=R
Why it works
- Great move! rook to a6 keeps the pressure (+6.0).
- pawn to b6 develops smoothly.
- A natural move: pawn to b7.
- Best move. pawn to a8 is exactly what the engine plays (+6.6).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Ra8, then b6 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 35. Rxa6 — rook to a6 (capture)
- Ra8 — rook to a8
- 36. b6 — pawn to b6
- Rh8 — rook to h8
- 37. b7 — pawn to b7
- Ke7 — king to e7
- 38. bxa8=R — pawn to a8 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Underpromotion
Promoting to a knight or rook — not a queen — is the only way to win.
Underpromotion means choosing a knight, rook or bishop instead of a queen — and winning precisely because of it. The usual hero is the knight, which delivers a check or a fork from the promotion square in a way no queen can. A rook is chosen when a fresh queen would produce stalemate. When your pawn reaches the last rank, never promote on autopilot — first ask what the knight can do.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #483.
SP-483 · ThroneGuard — Both knights start on inner files (b–g) while the king sits centrally on d or e — one of 204 positions filed here.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on b1.
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.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The pawn on e2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 563.
The engine's main line opens with g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 94 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +10 centipawns for White (depth 49, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #483Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-483
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