Winning blow: king to h1 (g1·35)
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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 1390 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 h4, rook b1 f1, bishop g2, pawn c3 d3 b6.
Black: king d7, queen e3, rook e8, knight e5, pawn g3 a5 c5 f5 d6 g6.
8 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 35.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 2 points of material (25 against 23; 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 d7.
It is White to move on move 35, with 2 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 3 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, f, g.
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
35. Kh1 Nxd3 36. b7 Rb8 37. Qh7+ Kd8 38. Qxg6
Why it works
- Great move! king to h1 keeps the pressure (+3.5).
- pawn to b7 develops smoothly.
- Precise: queen to h7 is the top choice (+4.8).
- Best move. queen to g6 is exactly what the engine plays (+5.0).
- You win decisive material (+5.0).
- If instead Nxd3, then b7 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 35. Kh1 — king to h1
- Nxd3 — knight to d3 (capture)
- 36. b7 — pawn to b7
- Rb8 — rook to b8
- 37. Qh7+ — queen to h7 with check
- Kd8 — king to d8
- 38. Qxg6 — queen to g6 (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 #567.
SP-567 · ThroneGuard — Both knights start on inner files (b–g) while the king sits centrally on d or e — one of 204 positions filed here.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on a1 and f1, the queen on g1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from d1 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 e2 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 482.
The engine's main line opens with d3.
Morozov Balance Index: 91 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +13 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #567Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 010 · SP-567
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