Winning blow: king to e2 (e1·16)
c9-23737naming 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, queen g4, bishop c6 h6, pawn a2 d2 f2 h2 b3 e3.
Black: king e7, queen b1, rook b8, bishop h4, pawn b4 c5 e5 a7 f7 h7.
10 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 20.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (21 against 23; 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 e7.
It is White to move on move 20, with 2 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle. White are in check right now, so every reply must answer the check.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 1 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
20. Ke2 Rd8 21. Qxh4+ f6 22. Qc4 Qf5 23. Qxc5+
Why it works
- Great move! king to e2 keeps the pressure (+4.8).
- Well found: queen to h4 (+4.5).
- Strong! queen to c4 is the sharp choice (+4.5).
- Best move. queen to c5 is exactly what the engine plays (+4.6).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Rd8, then Qxh4+ and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 20. Ke2 — king to e2
- Rd8 — rook to d8
- 21. Qxh4+ — queen to h4 (capture) with check
- f6 — pawn to f6
- 22. Qc4 — queen to c4
- Qf5 — queen to f5
- 23. Qxc5+ — queen to c5 (capture) with check
Types in this puzzle
Winning blow
Find the strike that wins material by force.
A winning blow is a forced material gain that does not fit a single textbook motif. The general tactical recipe applies: spot loose pieces, an awkwardly placed king, overloaded lines. Go through the forcing moves in order of violence — checks, captures, threats — because most combinations start with one of them. Do not judge by feel: calculate the concrete line until the outcome is beyond doubt.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #689.
SP-689 · ThroneGuard — King home on d or e, knights kept off the a- and h-files — the family of the standard starting array.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on b1 and h1, the queen on c1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, g2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 459.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 98 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +5 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #689Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 010 · SP-689
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