Winning blow: rook to h2 (g2·2)
c9-23188naming 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 e4, rook g2, knight f6, pawn c2 d2 a3 h7.
Black: king d6, rook h2 h3, pawn e6 a7.
7 white and 5 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 35.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 12 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on e4, the black king on d6.
It is White to move on move 35, with 27 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 2. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, f, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: e.
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
35. Rxh2 Rxh2 36. Kf4 Kc5 37. Kg5 Rxh7 38. Nxh7
Why it works
- Great move! rook to h2 keeps the pressure (+5.3).
- Well found: king to f4 (+5.4).
- A natural move: king to g5.
- Great move! knight to h7 keeps the pressure (+6.3).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Rxh2, then Kf4 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 35. Rxh2 — rook to h2 (capture)
- Rxh2 — rook to h2 (capture)
- 36. Kf4 — king to f4
- Kc5 — king to c5
- 37. Kg5 — king to g5
- Rxh7 — rook to h7 (capture)
- 38. Nxh7 — knight to h7 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
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.
King march
In the endgame the king is a fighting piece — march it in.
The king march: in the endgame the king is a fighting piece, and often it is his journey forward that wins. It is time to march when the queens are off and checks hold no danger — the king attacks pawns, escorts the passer, takes squares away. The telltale sign of the theme is several king moves in a row. Plan the full route in advance using the rule of the square, and do not let the enemy king grab the opposition.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #302.
SP-302 · ThroneScout — The king starts on d or e while at least one knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and e1, the queen on a1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
The bishops stand on f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 372.
The engine's main line opens with f3.
Morozov Balance Index: 83 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +16 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #302Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-302
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