Winning blow: bishop to c8 (d7)
c9-23705naming 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 1390 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, rook d1 c7, bishop d7, knight a6, pawn h2 e3 g3 f4.
Black: king d6, rook a3 f8, knight d8, pawn d3 f5 c6 e6 g6 h7.
9 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 27.
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 e1, the black king on d6.
It is White to move on move 27, with 23 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): a, b — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, d.
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
27. Bc8 Rf7 28. Rxf7 Nxf7 29. Nb4 Nh6 30. Nxd3
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to c8 keeps the pressure (+3.4).
- Well found: rook to f7 (+3.5).
- Strong! knight to b4 is the sharp choice (+3.6).
- Best move. knight to d3 is exactly what the engine plays (+3.9).
- You reach a winning position (+3.9).
- If instead Rf7, then Rxf7 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 27. Bc8 — bishop to c8
- Rf7 — rook to f7
- 28. Rxf7 — rook to f7 (capture)
- Nxf7 — knight to f7 (capture)
- 29. Nb4 — knight to b4
- Nh6 — knight to h6
- 30. Nxd3 — knight to d3 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
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.
Quiet move
No check, no capture — yet this modest move decides the game.
A quiet move gives no check and takes nothing — yet it decides the game by creating an unstoppable threat or stealing the king's last square. This is the hardest class of moves: the eye hunts for loud blows while a modest shift does the winning. The clue: every forcing try runs into a defense, so seek the move that strengthens the threat or takes squares away. Train yourself to ask: what if I neither capture nor check, but quietly improve?
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #399.
SP-399 · ThroneGuard — Both knights start on inner files (b–g) while the king sits centrally on d or e — one of 204 positions filed here.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on a1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: c2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 752.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 3 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +65 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
In 50 self-play games White scored 52.0% (95% CI 38.5–65.2%).
Explore position #399Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 010 · SP-399
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