Winning blow: bishop to e5 (a1·11)
c9-23779naming 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 h1, queen f3, rook c1, bishop a1, pawn a2 c2 d2 g2 h2 c4 e4 e6.
Black: king g8, queen b4, bishop b6 a8, knight e5 f8, pawn d6 a7 h7.
12 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 20.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (25 against 24; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on h1, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 20, with 38 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 8 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 0 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
20. Bxe5 dxe5 21. Qf7+ Kh8 22. e7 Qxe7 23. Qxe7
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to e5 keeps the pressure (+8.8).
- Well found: queen to f7 (+8.8).
- A natural move: pawn to e7.
- Great move! queen to e7 keeps the pressure (+9.2).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead dxe5, then Qf7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 20. Bxe5 — bishop to e5 (capture)
- dxe5 — pawn to e5 (capture)
- 21. Qf7+ — queen to f7 with check
- Kh8 — king to h8
- 22. e7 — pawn to e7
- Qxe7 — queen to e7 (capture)
- 23. Qxe7 — queen to e7 (capture)
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 #321.
SP-321 · BastionScout — Off-centre king plus a rim knight (a/h): 168 positions carry this shape.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on e1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
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, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 347.
The engine's main line opens with Ng3, bringing the knight out to g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 47 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +27 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #321Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-321
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