Mate in 2: rook to b6 (b1)
c9-23567naming 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.
Mate in 2: the first move creates an unstoppable threat, the second delivers mate.
Difficulty 1440 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.
Mate in two usually opens with a forcing move — a check, a capture or an unstoppable threat — that strips the king of squares or defenders, so the follow-up mate becomes unavoidable. Look for the first move that leaves the opponent only losing replies.
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 c6, rook b1 f1, bishop a5, knight f3, pawn f2 g2 g3 d4.
Black: king d8, rook b6 f8, bishop f5, knight f7, pawn a4 f6 a7 e7 h7.
10 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 24.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 8 points of material (29 against 21; 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 d8.
It is White to move on move 24, with 45 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, c — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, e, 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
24. Rxb6 a3 25. Rb8#
Why it works
- Great move! rook to b6 keeps the pressure (#1).
- Spot on — rook to b8 (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 2.
- If instead a3, then Rb8# and it is mate.
Move by move
- 24. Rxb6 — rook to b6 (capture)
- a3 — pawn to a3
- 25. Rb8# — rook to b8 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Double-check mate
Double check leaves only king moves — and there are none.
The double-check mate ends the game with check from two pieces at once, leaving the king with nothing. Neither capturing nor blocking works against a double check — only a king move, and here there is none. Look for a discovered check where the front piece checks too: it may even land on a defended square with total impunity. That is why the double check crowns so many of the most beautiful sacrificial combinations.
Mate in 2
A forced checkmate in two moves.
Mate in two: your move, any reply, then the mating blow. Start with the most forcing first moves — checks and sacrifices that shrink the opponent's options to almost nothing. Against every single reply you must have a mate ready, so check them all without exception. The common failure is analyzing the pretty defense and forgetting the boring one.
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 #884.
SP-884 · ThroneScout — The king starts on d or e while at least one knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on a1 and f1, the queen on d1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
The bishops stand on b1 and c1; their long diagonals reach h7 and h6 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: g2, h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 78.
The engine's main line opens with c3.
Morozov Balance Index: 80 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +17 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #884Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-884
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