Winning blow: rook to a7 (a4)
c9-25204naming 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 f2, queen h8, rook a4, bishop c8, pawn a2 d2 h2 e4.
Black: king c7, queen c6, bishop h1, knight f6, pawn c5 f5 e6 h6 a7 d7.
8 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 27.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 21 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on f2, the black king on c7.
It is White to move on move 27, with 31 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, f.
The White king has 6 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
27. Rxa7+ Kd6 28. Ra6 Ng4+ 29. Kg3 Bxe4 30. Rxc6+
Why it works
- Great move! rook to a7 keeps the pressure (+5.7).
- Well found: rook to a6 (+5.6).
- Precise: king to g3 is the top choice (+5.6).
- Best move. rook to c6 is exactly what the engine plays (+5.5).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kd6, then Ra6 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 27. Rxa7+ — rook to a7 (capture) with check
- Kd6 — king to d6
- 28. Ra6 — rook to a6
- Ng4+ — knight to g4 with check
- 29. Kg3 — king to g3
- Bxe4 — bishop to e4 (capture)
- 30. Rxc6+ — rook to c6 (capture) with check
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.
Queen trap
The strongest piece ventures too far — and cannot come back.
A queen trap catches the strongest piece after it ventures too far and finds no way home. The usual story is a queen grabbing a distant pawn — the classic poisoned pawn. The warning signs: the queen has few retreat squares, and enemy minor pieces cut them off one by one, gaining tempo with every move. Before your queen snacks on a pawn in enemy territory, count her escape routes — fewer than two means stay home.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #802.
SP-802 · BastionScout — A knight on the a- or h-file, king on c or f — the mirror twin lands here as well.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and g1, the queen on d1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
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, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 151.
The engine's main line opens with e3.
Morozov Balance Index: 86 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +15 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #802Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-802
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