Winning blow: pawn to e5 (d4·24)
c9-22981naming 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 f1, queen d1, rook a1 g1, bishop b1 g5, knight e1, pawn a2 b2 e2 f2 g2 h2 c3 d4.
Black: king e7, queen d8, rook a8 g8, bishop b8 c8, knight f6 h8, pawn d5 e5 g6 a7 b7 c7 h7.
15 white and 15 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 8.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (36 against 38; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on f1, the black king on e7.
It is White to move on move 8, with 37 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 8 pawns, Black 7. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in.
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
8. dxe5 Rf8 9. Qd4 c6 10. Bxf6+ Rxf6 11. exf6+
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to e5 keeps the pressure (+4.3).
- queen to d4 develops smoothly.
- Precise: bishop to f6 is the top choice (+4.5).
- Best move. pawn to f6 is exactly what the engine plays (+4.6).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Rf8, then Qd4 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 8. dxe5 — pawn to e5 (capture)
- Rf8 — rook to f8
- 9. Qd4 — queen to d4
- c6 — pawn to c6
- 10. Bxf6+ — bishop to f6 (capture) with check
- Rxf6 — rook to f6 (capture)
- 11. exf6+ — pawn to f6 (capture) with check
Types in this puzzle
Win the pinned piece
The pinned piece cannot run — attack it again and win it.
A pinned piece cannot flee, which means you can win it outright by attacking it one more time. Count attackers against defenders: if you outnumber them, the piece is yours. The best extra attacker is a pawn, since it costs less than anything it might capture. Do not rush the capture — build up the pressure first, then harvest.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
Development punish
Half the army still asleep — the attack breaks through.
Punishing lazy development: half of your opponent's army is asleep on its starting squares, which means you outnumber him where the fight is. Count not the pieces on the board but the pieces in play — if five or more of his pieces have never moved, look for a forcing attack. The sign is a development lead plus open lines toward his king. Strike immediately: give him two quiet moves and the advantage evaporates.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #596.
SP-596 · BastionScout — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, and a knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on a1 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 c1; their long diagonals reach h7 and h6 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 270.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 93 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +11 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #596Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-596
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