Winning blow: bishop to h6 (f4·3)
c9-22953naming 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 1290 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 h2, rook d1 h1, bishop f4, knight g4, pawn b2 g2 e4 b5.
Black: king g7, queen f3, rook f7 c8, knight a4, pawn c4 d6 g6 a7 h7.
9 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 27.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 7 points of material (20 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 h2, the black king on g7.
It is White to move on move 27, with 34 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, c, d, h.
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
27. Bh6+ Kg8 28. gxf3 Rxf3 29. Rxd6
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to h6 keeps the pressure (+4.4).
- Well found: pawn to f3 (+4.8).
- Precise: rook to d6 is the top choice (+4.8).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kg8, then gxf3 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 27. Bh6+ — bishop to h6 with check
- Kg8 — king to g8
- 28. gxf3 — pawn to f3 (capture)
- Rxf3 — rook to f3 (capture)
- 29. Rxd6 — rook to d6 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Winning blow
Find the strike that wins material by force.
A winning blow is a forced material gain that does not fit a single textbook motif. The general tactical recipe applies: spot loose pieces, an awkwardly placed king, overloaded lines. Go through the forcing moves in order of violence — checks, captures, threats — because most combinations start with one of them. Do not judge by feel: calculate the concrete line until the outcome is beyond doubt.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #328.
SP-328 · BastionScout — A knight on the a- or h-file, king on c or f — the mirror twin lands here as well.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on d1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: b2, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 349.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 5 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +49 centipawns for White (depth 49, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #328Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-328
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads