Winning blow: queen to g2 (c6)
c9-23183naming 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 1480 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 c6, rook a1 h1, bishop e1, knight d3, pawn f2 c4 h4 c5 b7.
Black: king g8, queen g6, rook h6 f8, bishop d6, pawn d4 f6 a7 g7.
11 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 24.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 4 points of material (30 against 26; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g1, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 24, with 2 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle. White are in check right now, so every reply must answer the check.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, d, 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
24. Qg2 Qxd3 25. Rh3 Qe2 26. cxd6
Why it works
- Great move! queen to g2 keeps the pressure (+5.0).
- rook to h3 develops smoothly.
- Precise: pawn to d6 is the top choice (+5.3).
- You win decisive material (+5.3).
- If instead Qxd3, then Rh3 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 24. Qg2 — queen to g2
- Qxd3 — queen to d3 (capture)
- 25. Rh3 — rook to h3
- Qe2 — queen to e2
- 26. cxd6 — pawn to d6 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Decoy
A sacrifice lures the king or a piece onto a fatal square.
A decoy is the mirror image of deflection: you sacrifice to drag the king or a piece onto a fatal square. The classic is a queen or rook sac whose capture pulls the king into a knight fork, a discovered check or mate. Find the square where the target will be hit, then find the offer it cannot refuse. Calculate to the very end — a decoy only works when the follow-up is forced.
Blocking save
Block the check with tempo — and turn the game around.
The blocking save: you interpose a piece against the check — not passively, but with tempo, so the blocker creates a threat of its own. Such a block turns defense into attack. Whenever you are checked, compare all three replies — capture, move the king, interpose — and among the interpositions hunt for the one that counterattacks. The mistake is automatically stepping aside with the king when an active block would have turned the game around.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #440.
SP-440 · RampartGuard — A b- or g-file king and two knights on inner files (b–g).
The king starts on g1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on f1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 717.
The engine's main line opens with h4.
Morozov Balance Index: 28 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +33 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #440Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-440
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