Winning blow: queen to b5 (a4·3)
c9-23880naming 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 f1, queen a4, bishop d2, pawn c2 g2 h2 f4 e5.
Black: king e7, rook h8, bishop d4 b5, knight e8, pawn a5 d5 g6 h6 c7 f7.
8 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 31.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 3 points of material (17 against 20; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on f1, the black king on e7.
It is White to move on move 31, with 4 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 5 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, d.
Black 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
31. Qxb5 Ng7 32. Bxa5 Ne6 33. Bxc7 Nxc7 34. Qb4+
Why it works
- Great move! queen to b5 keeps the pressure (+4.4).
- Spot on — bishop to a5 (+4.0).
- Precise: bishop to c7 is the top choice (+3.7).
- Great move! queen to b4 keeps the pressure (+4.2).
- You reach a winning position (+4.2).
- If instead Ng7, then Bxa5 and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 31. Qxb5 — queen to b5 (capture)
- Ng7 — knight to g7
- 32. Bxa5 — bishop to a5 (capture)
- Ne6 — knight to e6
- 33. Bxc7 — bishop to c7 (capture)
- Nxc7 — knight to c7 (capture)
- 34. Qb4+ — queen to b4 with check
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.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #246.
SP-246 · ThroneScout — King on a central file (d/e) with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
The king starts on d1, the rooks on b1 and h1, the queen on e1.
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.
The bishops stand on c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 614.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 31 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +32 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #246Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-246
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