Winning blow: bishop to e6 (f5·4)
c9-23562naming 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 1560 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 g7, rook a1 e3, bishop a3 f5, knight e7, pawn a2 b2 d2 e2 g2 h2 c4 f4.
Black: king d7, queen d8, rook a8 f8, bishop e6 c7, pawn b6 d6 h6 a7.
15 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 18.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 7 points of material (36 against 29; 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 d7.
It is White to move on move 18, with 56 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 8 pawns, Black 4. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in.
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
18. Bxe6+ Ke8 19. Qg6+ Kxe7 20. Bh3#
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to e6 keeps the pressure (#2).
- Spot on — queen to g6 (#1).
- Precise: bishop to h3 is the top choice (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 3.
- If instead Ke8, then Qg6+ and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 18. Bxe6+ — bishop to e6 (capture) with check
- Ke8 — king to e8
- 19. Qg6+ — queen to g6 with check
- Kxe7 — king to e7 (capture)
- 20. Bh3# — bishop to h3 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Discovered mate
A piece steps aside — and the one behind it delivers mate.
In a discovered mate the piece that moves is not the one that mates — the long-range piece behind it delivers the blow. The moving piece is completely free: it can land anywhere, ideally stealing the king's last squares or guarding key points. Look for your rook, bishop or queen lined up with the enemy king, with exactly one of your own pieces in between. When choosing the unveiling move, remember its second job — shutting the king's escape door.
Mate in 3
A forced checkmate in three moves.
Mate in three is a forced staircase: each of your moves narrows the opponent's choices, and the third one ends the game. Look for the start among checks and sacrifices — quiet first moves are rare in mating problems, but deliciously sneaky. Keep the tree in your head: every defense gets its own branch. Do not stop calculating after move two — see the final mating picture with your own eyes.
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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #604.
SP-604 · ThroneScout — A knight starts on the edge (a/h) and the king sits centrally on d or e; the mirror twin stays in this family too.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on a1 and f1, the queen on c1.
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 268.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 0 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +81 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
In 50 self-play games White scored 63.0% (95% CI 49.1–75.0%).
Explore position #604Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-604
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