Mate in 2: queen to c8 (a6·4)
c9-25191naming 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.
Mate in 2: the first move creates an unstoppable threat, the second delivers mate.
Difficulty 1670 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.
Mate in two usually opens with a forcing move — a check, a capture or an unstoppable threat — that strips the king of squares or defenders, so the follow-up mate becomes unavoidable. Look for the first move that leaves the opponent only losing replies.
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 a2, queen a6, rook a1, bishop a3 d3, knight d6, pawn c2 d2 h2 b3 a4 f4 g4.
Black: king c7, bishop d5 g7, knight f3, pawn d4 a5 g6 h7.
13 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 34.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 17 points of material (30 against 13; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on a2, the black king on c7.
It is White to move on move 34, with 43 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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
34. Qc8+ Kb6 35. Bc5#
Why it works
- Best move. queen to c8 is exactly what the engine plays (#1).
- Spot on — bishop to c5 (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 2.
- If instead Kb6, then Bc5# and it is mate.
Move by move
- 34. Qc8+ — queen to c8 with check
- Kb6 — king to b6
- 35. Bc5# — bishop to c5 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Two-bishop mate
The bishop pair sweeps two adjacent diagonals — the king has nowhere to hide.
The two-bishop mate rakes two adjacent diagonals: one bishop mates while the other seals off the escape squares. The bishops complement each other perfectly — living on opposite colors, together they cover an unbroken strip of the board. The pattern usually appears at the edge or in the corner where the king was pressed beforehand. Treasure the bishop pair until the attack comes — on an open board two adjacent diagonals become a solid wall.
Mate in 2
A forced checkmate in two moves.
Mate in two: your move, any reply, then the mating blow. Start with the most forcing first moves — checks and sacrifices that shrink the opponent's options to almost nothing. Against every single reply you must have a mate ready, so check them all without exception. The common failure is analyzing the pretty defense and forgetting the boring one.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #950.
SP-950 · RampartGuard — A b- or g-file king and two knights on inner files (b–g).
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and d1, the queen on h1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
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: f2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 6.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 8 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +45 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #950Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 013 · SP-950
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