Winning blow: queen to f5 (h3·3)
c9-23263naming 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 h3, bishop e6, knight e2 c3, pawn a2 h2.
Black: king g8, queen c7, rook f7, bishop a6, pawn e5 a7 b7 e7 g7.
7 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 26.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (20 against 22; 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 26, with 35 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 2 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, e, g.
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
26. Qf5 Qb6+ 27. Kg2 Qxe6 28. Qxe6
Why it works
- Great move! queen to f5 keeps the pressure (+5.8).
- king to g2 develops smoothly.
- Strong! queen to e6 is the sharp choice (+6.0).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qb6+, then Kg2 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 26. Qf5 — queen to f5
- Qb6+ — queen to b6 with check
- 27. Kg2 — king to g2
- Qxe6 — queen to e6 (capture)
- 28. Qxe6 — queen to e6 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Quiet move
No check, no capture — yet this modest move decides the game.
A quiet move gives no check and takes nothing — yet it decides the game by creating an unstoppable threat or stealing the king's last square. This is the hardest class of moves: the eye hunts for loud blows while a modest shift does the winning. The clue: every forcing try runs into a defense, so seek the move that strengthens the threat or takes squares away. Train yourself to ask: what if I neither capture nor check, but quietly improve?
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #12.
SP-12 · BastionGuard — King off-centre on c or f with both knights on inner files.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on e1 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 b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: d2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 956.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 28 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +33 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #12Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-12
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