Winning blow: rook to h8 (c8·2)
c9-23372naming 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 g1, rook h3 c8, knight e4 h5, pawn a2 d2 e2 b3.
Black: king e7, rook f5 h8, knight f7, pawn d4 g5 e6 a7 d7 g7.
9 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 23.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (20 against 19; 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 e7.
It is White to move on move 23, with 41 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, f, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: g.
The White king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
23. Rxh8 Nxh8 24. Nhg3 Rf8 25. Rh7 Rg8 26. Nxg5
Why it works
- Great move! rook to h8 keeps the pressure (+3.5).
- knight to g3 develops smoothly.
- A natural move: rook to h7.
- Best move. knight to g5 is exactly what the engine plays (+3.6).
- You reach a winning position (+3.6).
- If instead Nxh8, then Nhg3 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 23. Rxh8 — rook to h8 (capture)
- Nxh8 — knight to h8 (capture)
- 24. Nhg3 — knight to g3
- Rf8 — rook to f8
- 25. Rh7 — rook to h7
- Rg8 — rook to g8
- 26. Nxg5 — knight to g5 (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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #588.
SP-588 · ThroneScout — King on a central file (d/e) with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
The king starts on e1, the rooks on c1 and f1, the queen on a1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
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: g2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 284.
The engine's main line opens with Ng3, bringing the knight out to g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 69 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +21 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #588Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-588
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