Winning blow: queen to e7 (d8·2)
c9-25008naming 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 1250 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 f2, queen d8, bishop b4, knight f5, pawn a2 g2 h2 f3 e4.
Black: king g8, queen b5, rook a1, bishop e8, pawn a5 b6 g7 h7.
9 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 30.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (20 against 21; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on f2, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 30, with 44 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): c, d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b.
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
30. Qe7 Rxa2+ 31. Kg3 Rxg2+ 32. Kxg2
Why it works
- Great move! queen to e7 keeps the pressure (#6).
- king to g3 develops smoothly.
- Strong! king to g2 is the sharp choice (#4).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Rxa2+, then Kg3 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 30. Qe7 — queen to e7
- Rxa2+ — rook to a2 (capture) with check
- 31. Kg3 — king to g3
- Rxg2+ — rook to g2 (capture) with check
- 32. Kxg2 — king to g2 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Quiet move
No check, no capture — yet this modest move decides the game.
A quiet move gives no check and takes nothing — yet it decides the game by creating an unstoppable threat or stealing the king's last square. This is the hardest class of moves: the eye hunts for loud blows while a modest shift does the winning. The clue: every forcing try runs into a defense, so seek the move that strengthens the threat or takes squares away. Train yourself to ask: what if I neither capture nor check, but quietly improve?
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #690.
SP-690 · ThroneGuard — King on a central file (d/e) with both knights on inner files — the classic-type setup.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on b1 and h1, the queen on c1.
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.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, f2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 455.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 94 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +10 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #690Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-690
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