Winning blow: knight to e5 (d7)
c9-23668naming 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 g1, queen b3, rook c7, bishop a1, knight g3 d7, pawn a2 e2 f2 h3.
Black: king g6, queen h4, rook e8, bishop a7 a8, knight c8, pawn e5 h5 a6 g7.
10 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 20.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 27 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on g1, the black king on g6.
It is White to move on move 20, with 50 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, c, d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: g.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
20. Nxe5+ Kh6 21. Nf5+ Kg5 22. Nxh4
Why it works
- Great move! knight to e5 keeps the pressure (#7).
- Well found: knight to f5 (#6).
- Precise: knight to h4 is the top choice (#5).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kh6, then Nf5+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 20. Nxe5+ — knight to e5 (capture) with check
- Kh6 — king to h6
- 21. Nf5+ — knight to f5 with check
- Kg5 — king to g5
- 22. Nxh4 — knight to h4 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #48.
SP-48 · RampartGuard — King on the wing (b/g) with both knights on inner files.
The king starts on g1, the rooks on e1 and h1, the queen on f1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: d2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 911.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 61 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +23 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #48Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-48
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