Winning blow: knight to b3 (d2)
c9-24944naming 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 e1, rook c1 g1, knight d2, pawn e2 a4 f5 g5.
Black: king d8, rook h4, bishop b3, knight d7 f8, pawn d4 c6 a7 b7 f7.
8 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 23.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (17 against 19; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on e1, the black king on d8.
It is White to move on move 23, with 27 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, c, d.
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
23. Nxb3 d3 24. g6 fxg6 25. fxg6 Nxg6 26. Rxg6
Why it works
- Great move! knight to b3 keeps the pressure (+2.9).
- pawn to g6 develops smoothly.
- Strong! pawn to g6 is the sharp choice (+3.5).
- Great move! rook to g6 keeps the pressure (+3.6).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead d3, then g6 and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 23. Nxb3 — knight to b3 (capture)
- d3 — pawn to d3
- 24. g6 — pawn to g6
- fxg6 — pawn to g6 (capture)
- 25. fxg6 — pawn to g6 (capture)
- Nxg6 — knight to g6 (capture)
- 26. Rxg6 — rook to g6 (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.
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 #565.
SP-565 · 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 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 c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
The pawn on f2 is defended by the king alone — the classic soft spot of the standard setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 490.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 6 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +60 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
In 50 self-play games White scored 52.0% (95% CI 38.5–65.2%).
Explore position #565Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-565
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