Winning blow: rook to e4 (c4·4)
c9-24489naming 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 1650 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
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 b1, rook c4, bishop a1 h5, knight f5, pawn a2 d2 f2 b3 e3.
Black: king e6, queen b8, rook c8 g8, bishop d5, knight g2 f8, pawn c5 f6 a7 d7.
11 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 16.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 4 points of material (28 against 32; 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 e6.
It is White to move on move 16, with 48 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): g, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
16. Re4+ Qe5 17. Bxe5
Why it works
- Great move! rook to e4 keeps the pressure (+4.9).
- Spot on — bishop to e5 (+5.4).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qe5, then Bxe5 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 16. Re4+ — rook to e4 with check
- Qe5 — queen to e5
- 17. Bxe5 — bishop to e5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Win the pinned piece
The pinned piece cannot run — attack it again and win it.
A pinned piece cannot flee, which means you can win it outright by attacking it one more time. Count attackers against defenders: if you outnumber them, the piece is yours. The best extra attacker is a pawn, since it costs less than anything it might capture. Do not rush the capture — build up the pressure first, then harvest.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #769.
SP-769 · ThroneScout — A central king (d or e), but with a knight posted out on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on b1.
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.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
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 187.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 80 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +17 centipawns for White (depth 42, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #769Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 013 · SP-769
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