Winning blow: rook to f3 (f1·10)
c9-24969naming 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 1430 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 d1, queen e2, rook f1, bishop a1, knight g2 g3, pawn a2 h2 b3 e3 d4 f5.
Black: king c8, queen g8, rook f8, bishop f3 d6, knight e5, pawn b5 g5 a6 f6 e7 h7.
12 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 17.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 29 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on d1, the black king on c8.
It is White to move on move 17, with 27 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: g.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 5 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
17. Rxf3 Nxf3 18. Qxf3 Kc7 19. Ne1 h5 20. Qxh5
Why it works
- Great move! rook to f3 keeps the pressure (+2.6).
- Well found: queen to f3 (+2.6).
- Precise: knight to e1 is the top choice (+2.2).
- Best move. queen to h5 is exactly what the engine plays (+2.1).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Nxf3, then Qxf3 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 17. Rxf3 — rook to f3 (capture)
- Nxf3 — knight to f3 (capture)
- 18. Qxf3 — queen to f3 (capture)
- Kc7 — king to c7
- 19. Ne1 — knight to e1
- h5 — pawn to h5
- 20. Qxh5 — queen to h5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
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 #832.
SP-832 · ThroneScout — A knight starts on the edge (a/h) and the king sits centrally on d or e; the mirror twin stays in this family too.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and f1, the queen on g1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The pawn on d2, e2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 127.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 65 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +22 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #832Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-832
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