Winning blow: pawn to d5 (e4·22)
c9-23309naming 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 1700 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
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 c2, queen f7, rook g8, knight f2 c4, pawn b3 d3 e4 e6.
Black: king d8, queen d4, rook b8 e8, bishop c6, pawn d5 c7 h7.
9 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 33.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (24 against 25; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on c2, the black king on d8.
It is White to move on move 33, with 43 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, f, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, h.
The White king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
33. exd5 Qc5 34. Ne4 Qe7 35. dxc6 Qxf7 36. exf7
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to d5 keeps the pressure (+6.2).
- knight to e4 develops smoothly.
- Strong! pawn to c6 is the sharp choice (+7.7).
- Great move! pawn to f7 keeps the pressure (+8.2).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qc5, then Ne4 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 33. exd5 — pawn to d5 (capture)
- Qc5 — queen to c5
- 34. Ne4 — knight to e4
- Qe7 — queen to e7
- 35. dxc6 — pawn to c6 (capture)
- Qxf7 — queen to f7 (capture)
- 36. exf7 — pawn to f7 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Winning blow
Find the strike that wins material by force.
A winning blow is a forced material gain that does not fit a single textbook motif. The general tactical recipe applies: spot loose pieces, an awkwardly placed king, overloaded lines. Go through the forcing moves in order of violence — checks, captures, threats — because most combinations start with one of them. Do not judge by feel: calculate the concrete line until the outcome is beyond doubt.
Simplification
Trade the heavy pieces and steer into a won endgame.
Simplification is how you convert an advantage: by trading queens and rooks you extinguish the counterplay and steer the game into a won endgame. The rule is simple — the side with extra material trades pieces but keeps pawns. Look for exchanges once the material is already won and your opponent is still rattling threats. The mistake is avoiding the queen trade and letting him muddy the water forever.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #818.
SP-818 · BastionScout — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, and a knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and g1, the queen on e1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 135.
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 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #818Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 013 · SP-818
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