Winning blow: rook to c7 (c8·7)
c9-23050naming 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 1430 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 e1, queen c4, rook c8, bishop a1 d1, knight g3 e5, pawn a2 d2 e2 h2 b3 f4.
Black: king e7, queen g8, rook b8 f8, bishop g2 d6, knight h8, pawn f5 a6 b6 e6 g7 h7.
13 white and 13 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 14.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (32 against 34; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on e1, the black king on e7.
It is White to move on move 14, with 48 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): c — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: g.
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
14. Rc7+ Kd8 15. Rd7+ Ke8 16. Rxd6 Qf7 17. Rxe6+
Why it works
- Great move! rook to c7 keeps the pressure (+8.7).
- Well found: rook to d7 (+10.3).
- Strong! rook to d6 is the sharp choice (+10.6).
- Best move. rook to e6 is exactly what the engine plays (+12.3).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Kd8, then Rd7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 14. Rc7+ — rook to c7 with check
- Kd8 — king to d8
- 15. Rd7+ — rook to d7 with check
- Ke8 — king to e8
- 16. Rxd6 — rook to d6 (capture)
- Qf7 — queen to f7
- 17. Rxe6+ — rook to e6 (capture) with check
Types in this puzzle
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
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 #641.
SP-641 · ThroneScout — King in the middle of the rank, with a knight already committed to the corner.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on g1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
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 d2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 219.
The engine's main line opens with b3.
Morozov Balance Index: 83 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +16 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #641Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-641
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