Winning blow: bishop to d5 (e4·4)
c9-24143naming 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 b1, queen f3, rook f2 f5, bishop g3 e4, knight d3, pawn b2 c2 d2 h2 e3 a4 g4.
Black: king a7, queen g7, rook d5 f8, bishop c7 e8, knight e6 f7, pawn a5 e5 g5 b6 c6 h6.
14 white and 14 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 24.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (35 against 37; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b1, the black king on a7.
It is White to move on move 24, with 32 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): f — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
The White king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
24. Bxd5 cxd5 25. Qxd5 Nd6 26. Rxf8 Nxf8 27. Nxe5
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to d5 keeps the pressure (+3.6).
- Well found: queen to d5 (+3.8).
- Precise: rook to f8 is the top choice (+3.7).
- Best move. knight to e5 is exactly what the engine plays (+3.7).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead cxd5, then Qxd5 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 24. Bxd5 — bishop to d5 (capture)
- cxd5 — pawn to d5 (capture)
- 25. Qxd5 — queen to d5 (capture)
- Nd6 — knight to d6
- 26. Rxf8 — rook to f8 (capture)
- Nxf8 — knight to f8 (capture)
- 27. Nxe5 — knight to e5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Overload
One defender guards two things — it cannot do both jobs.
Overloading exploits a defender with two jobs at once — guarding a piece and covering a mating square, for instance. It cannot do both: your first strike forces it to handle one duty and abandon the other. Find the overworked piece by asking what happens to each of its charges if it gets distracted. Then hit one target and collect the other — an overloaded defender only pretends to defend.
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 #186.
SP-186 · 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 g1, the queen on h1.
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 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 ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 773.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 61 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +23 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #186Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-186
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