Winning blow: king to h1 (g1·36)
c9-24972naming 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 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 a2, rook f1, bishop b2 c4, pawn g2 h2 a3 b4 b5.
Black: king g8, queen a8, rook e8, bishop e3 d5, pawn f5 a7 c7 g7 h7.
10 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 21.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 25 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on g1, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 21, 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 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, f.
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
21. Kh1 Bxc4 22. Qxc4+ Kh8 23. Qxc7 Rg8 24. Rxf5
Why it works
- Great move! king to h1 keeps the pressure (+2.7).
- Well found: queen to c4 (+3.2).
- Precise: queen to c7 is the top choice (+3.2).
- Best move. rook to f5 is exactly what the engine plays (+3.3).
- You reach a winning position (+3.3).
- If instead Bxc4, then Qxc4+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 21. Kh1 — king to h1
- Bxc4 — bishop to c4 (capture)
- 22. Qxc4+ — queen to c4 (capture) with check
- Kh8 — king to h8
- 23. Qxc7 — queen to c7 (capture)
- Rg8 — rook to g8
- 24. Rxf5 — rook to f5 (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 #6.
SP-6 · RampartGuard — King on the wing (b/g) with both knights on inner files.
The king starts on g1, the rooks on e1 and h1, the queen on a1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
The bishops stand on c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: c2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 950.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 51 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +26 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #6Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 010 · SP-6
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