Winning blow: queen to d5 (f3·5)
c9-23096naming 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 g1, queen f3, rook c1 h1, bishop f4, pawn a2 b2 e2 f2 g2 h4.
Black: king g8, queen a7, rook g4 e8, bishop e7, pawn a4 d4 c5 h5 f6 d7.
11 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 24.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 28 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on g1, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 24, with 42 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 6. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: c, d.
The White king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
24. Qd5+ Kg7 25. Qxh5 Rg6 26. Bh6+ Rxh6 27. Qxe8
Why it works
- Great move! queen to d5 keeps the pressure (+4.5).
- Well found: queen to h5 (+4.2).
- Precise: bishop to h6 is the top choice (+4.6).
- Great move! queen to e8 keeps the pressure (+4.5).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Kg7, then Qxh5 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 24. Qd5+ — queen to d5 with check
- Kg7 — king to g7
- 25. Qxh5 — queen to h5 (capture)
- Rg6 — rook to g6
- 26. Bh6+ — bishop to h6 with check
- Rxh6 — rook to h6 (capture)
- 27. Qxe8 — queen to e8 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Queen fork
The queen lands on a square from which it attacks two targets at once.
The queen strikes along files, ranks and diagonals, so she forks more often than any other piece. Look for a square where the queen attacks two undefended targets at once — most often a check combined with a loose piece. Diagonal blows are especially venomous: a slanting check that also eyes a rook in the corner is the classic of the genre. Remember that both targets must be unprotected, or your «fork» is just a shot into the air.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #201.
SP-201 · BastionGuard — King shifted to c or f, knights kept clear of the edges — 168 positions in all.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on c1 and h1, the queen on a1.
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.
The bishops stand on d1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a5 once the e- and d-pawns step aside.
The pawn on g2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 665.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 78 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +18 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #201Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-201
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