Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to g7 (h6·8)
c9-23254naming 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.
An opening trap from this Chess960 starting position.
A fork made possible by the Chess960 piece placement.
Uncastled king: the enemy king is stuck in the centre — punish it before it castles.
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.
Early Chess960 traps punish natural but careless development. Look for a forcing move that exploits a piece the opponent has just placed on a poor square — a fork, a pin or a threat that wins material before either side is fully developed.
A set-up fork needs one preparing move before the fork lands — a check that drives the king onto the forking square, or a capture that lines the targets up. Find the preparation first, then the fork it makes possible.
An uncastled king in the centre is a standing target. Look for ways to open the central files and diagonals against it with checks and threats before it can shelter — every tempo the king spends in the middle is a chance for a combination.
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 f1, queen h7, rook d1 g1, bishop h1 h6, knight a1 e1, pawn a2 b2 e2 f2 g2 h2 d4 c5.
Black: king f8, queen b8, rook d8 g8, bishop g7 c8, knight b6 f6, pawn d5 g6 a7 b7 c7 e7 f7.
16 white and 15 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 6.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (39 against 38; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on f1, the black king on f8.
It is White to move on move 6, with 34 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 8 pawns, Black 7. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in.
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
6. Bxg7+ Rxg7 7. Qh8+ Rg8 8. Qh6+ Ke8 9. cxb6
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to g7 keeps the pressure (+2.9).
- Well found: queen to h8 (+2.7).
- Strong! queen to h6 is the sharp choice (+2.7).
- Best move. pawn to b6 is exactly what the engine plays (+3.0).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Rxg7, then Qh8+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 6. Bxg7+ — bishop to g7 (capture) with check
- Rxg7 — rook to g7 (capture)
- 7. Qh8+ — queen to h8 with check
- Rg8 — rook to g8
- 8. Qh6+ — queen to h6 with check
- Ke8 — king to e8
- 9. cxb6 — pawn to b6 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Setup fork
The random setup allows a fork that classical chess never sees.
A setup fork is a double attack that exists only because of the unusual starting squares — in classical chess these targets never stand side by side. Look for pairs of undefended pieces on your opponent's back rank and for squares from which a knight or pawn hits both at once. Such forks usually appear within the first moves, before the pieces disperse. In every new position, note right away which starting pieces are defended by no one.
Win the pinned piece
The pinned piece cannot run — attack it again and win it.
A pinned piece cannot flee, which means you can win it outright by attacking it one more time. Count attackers against defenders: if you outnumber them, the piece is yours. The best extra attacker is a pawn, since it costs less than anything it might capture. Do not rush the capture — build up the pressure first, then harvest.
Counter-strike
Don't defend — answer the threat with a bigger one.
The counter-strike: instead of defending against the threat, you answer with a bigger threat of your own. While your opponent grabs a pawn, you deliver mate — the arithmetic favors you. Look for a counter when direct defenses fail: do you have a check, an attack on the queen, a mating threat? The beginner's error is meeting every threat with a reflexive defense without checking the counterattacking resources first.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #119.
SP-119 · BastionScout — King shifted to c or f, with a knight committed to the corner from move one.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on d1 and g1, the queen on b1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 834.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 97 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +7 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #119Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-119
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