Winning blow: pawn to g4 (g3·10)
c9-23023naming 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 1700 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
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 e1, queen e6, rook b1 g1, bishop a1, knight d5, pawn a2 c2 b3 g3 d4 h4.
Black: king h5, queen f3, rook b8 g8, bishop h8, knight d6, pawn e5 b6 a7 c7 g7 h7.
12 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 20.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 31 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on e1, the black king on h5.
It is White to move on move 20, with 38 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: e.
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
20. g4+ Kxh4 21. Qe7+ Kh3 22. Qg5 Nf5 23. gxf5
Why it works
- Best move. pawn to g4 is exactly what the engine plays (+6.7).
- Well found: queen to e7 (+7.9).
- Strong! queen to g5 is the sharp choice (+8.5).
- Great move! pawn to f5 keeps the pressure (+8.5).
- You win decisive material (+8.5).
- If instead Kxh4, then Qe7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 20. g4+ — pawn to g4 with check
- Kxh4 — king to h4 (capture)
- 21. Qe7+ — queen to e7 with check
- Kh3 — king to h3
- 22. Qg5 — queen to g5
- Nf5 — knight to f5
- 23. gxf5 — pawn to f5 (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 #515.
SP-515 · ThroneGuard — King home on d or e, knights kept off the a- and h-files — the family of the standard starting array.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on b1 and g1, the queen on d1.
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 f2 is defended by the king alone — the classic soft spot of the standard setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 531.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 69 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +21 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #515Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 013 · SP-515
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