Winning blow: rook to b1 (f1·3)
c9-23997naming 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 d2, queen c6, rook f1, bishop g1 d5, knight a2 e2, pawn d3 g3 d4 f4 h5.
Black: king f7, queen b8, rook a8 e8, bishop h8, knight b1 e6, pawn b2 a4 f5 g6 h7.
12 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 22.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (31 against 33; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d2, the black king on f7.
It is White to move on move 22, with 5 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 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, b.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
22. Rxb1 a3 23. Nec3 Qc8 24. Qxa8 Qxa8 25. Bxa8
Why it works
- Great move! rook to b1 keeps the pressure (+2.3).
- knight to c3 develops smoothly.
- Precise: queen to a8 is the top choice (+2.4).
- Brilliant! The bishop on a8 is a sacrifice that works — you stand better (+2.5).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead a3, then Nec3 and you win the knight.
Move by move
- 22. Rxb1 — rook to b1 (capture)
- a3 — pawn to a3
- 23. Nec3 — knight to c3
- Qc8 — queen to c8
- 24. Qxa8 — queen to a8 (capture)
- Qxa8 — queen to a8 (capture)
- 25. Bxa8 — bishop to a8 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Clearance
Clear your own piece out of the way — with tempo — for the decisive blow.
Clearance is about your own piece standing in the way of the decisive blow — so you move it aside, or even throw it away. The key is to clear with tempo: jump off with a check, a capture or a threat, giving the opponent no time to regroup. The telltale sign: you see a crushing queen or rook move, but one of your own pieces blocks the line or occupies the square. Do not cling to it — a clearance sacrifice usually costs less than a missed attack.
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.
Winning exchange
A forced series of captures on one square ends in your favour.
A winning exchange is a forced series of captures on one square that leaves you ahead in material. It is pure arithmetic: count the attackers and defenders of the square and note the value of every piece in the queue. Capture in the right order — cheap pieces first, expensive ones later — or a winning trade turns into a losing one. The classic error is stopping the count halfway and missing the opponent's final recapture.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #415.
SP-415 · ThroneGuard — A central king (d or e) and two knights tucked onto inner files: the family that holds the standard array, SP-518.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on a1 and f1, the queen on b1.
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.
The pawn on d2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 736.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 47 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +27 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #415Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-415
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