Winning blow: pawn to f6 (g5·11)
c9-23748naming 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 1200 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 b1, rook d1 h3, bishop e1 f1, knight e3, pawn e2 f2 b5 g5 h5.
Black: king g8, queen b7, rook c8 f8, bishop c6 e7, knight c5 f6, pawn e6 h6 f7 g7.
12 white and 12 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 (33 against 35; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g1, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 20, with 44 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, c, d — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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. gxf6 Be4 21. fxe7 Bxb1 22. exf8=Q+ Rxf8 23. Rxb1
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to f6 keeps the pressure (+3.4).
- Well found: pawn to e7 (+3.3).
- Precise: pawn to f8 is the top choice (+3.1).
- Great move! rook to b1 keeps the pressure (+3.2).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Be4, then fxe7 and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 20. gxf6 — pawn to f6 (capture)
- Be4 — bishop to e4
- 21. fxe7 — pawn to e7 (capture)
- Bxb1 — bishop to b1 (capture)
- 22. exf8=Q+ — pawn to f8 (capture) with check
- Rxf8 — rook to f8 (capture)
- 23. Rxb1 — rook to b1 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Zwischenzug
Before the obvious recapture — an in-between move that wins more.
A zwischenzug means refusing the obvious reply — usually a recapture — and playing a stronger move with tempo first. Typically it is a check or a deadly threat the opponent must answer, after which you calmly take what was hanging anyway. The sign: inside a sequence of exchanges you own a check or a threat that will not run away. Whenever a line looks forced, ask what poison you can slip in between the moves.
Remove the defender
Capture the guard first — then take what it protected.
Removing the defender is the straightforward plan: capture the guard first, then take what it guarded. Unlike deflection, the defender is not lured away — it is traded off or destroyed on the spot. Stare at the target you crave and ask who defends it, and whether that defender can be profitably eaten. Count the whole capture sequence, not just the first move — the trade must pay off at the end.
Promotion
The pawn reaches the last rank and becomes a queen — decisively.
Promotion turns a pawn on the last rank into a queen and rewrites the evaluation on the spot. In tactics the passer rarely walks in for free — usually a sacrifice clears its path. Count the tempi: how many moves does the pawn need, and can the defender stop it in time? And watch the promotion square itself — it must be out of enemy reach or won by force in your combination.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #122.
SP-122 · RampartScout — The king starts on b or g while a knight begins on the a- or h-file — the smallest family.
The king starts on g1, the rooks on c1 and h1, the queen on b1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
The bishops stand on e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 837.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 37 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +30 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #122Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-122
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