Winning blow: queen to d3 (c2)
c9-23280naming 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 e1, queen c2, rook a1 g1, bishop h1 e3, knight d2, pawn b2 c3 a4 d4 f4 g4 h4 e5.
Black: king g8, queen d7, rook a8 f8, bishop d3 h8, knight b8 e8, pawn a5 d5 b6 c6 e6 g6 h6 f7.
15 white and 16 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 17.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 3 points of material (36 against 39; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on e1, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 17, with 32 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 8 pawns, Black 8. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in.
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
17. Qxd3 c5 18. dxc5 bxc5 19. Bxc5 Bg7 20. Bxf8
Why it works
- Great move! queen to d3 keeps the pressure (+2.7).
- Spot on — pawn to c5 (+2.6).
- Precise: bishop to c5 is the top choice (+3.0).
- Best move. bishop to f8 is exactly what the engine plays (+2.9).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead c5, then dxc5 and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 17. Qxd3 — queen to d3 (capture)
- c5 — pawn to c5
- 18. dxc5 — pawn to c5 (capture)
- bxc5 — pawn to c5 (capture)
- 19. Bxc5 — bishop to c5 (capture)
- Bg7 — bishop to g7
- 20. Bxf8 — bishop to f8 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Trapped piece
The attacked piece has no safe square — it is caught.
Trapping a piece means the attacked piece has no safe square left — it simply perishes. Do not chase it around; build a cage instead: cut off the escape squares with pawns and pieces first, and attack last. The typical victim has wandered deep into your camp or is stuck at the edge of the board, where its mobility is tiny. And always check the way home for your own raiders — or the trapped piece will be yours.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
Winning exchange
A forced series of captures on one square ends in your favour.
A winning exchange is a forced series of captures on one square that leaves you ahead in material. It is pure arithmetic: count the attackers and defenders of the square and note the value of every piece in the queue. Capture in the right order — cheap pieces first, expensive ones later — or a winning trade turns into a losing one. The classic error is stopping the count halfway and missing the opponent's final recapture.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #423.
SP-423 · 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 a1 and g1, the queen on d1.
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 BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 722.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 86 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +15 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #423Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-423
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