Winning blow: pawn to e6 (e5·4)
c9-25225naming 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 g1, queen g5, bishop d4, knight c5, pawn a2 c2 g3 h4 e5.
Black: king f7, queen c6, rook g8, knight b2, pawn b4 a5 b5 f5 e7 h7.
9 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 32.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 3 points of material (20 against 23; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g1, the black king on f7.
It is White to move on move 32, with 35 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, f.
The White king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
32. e6+ Qxe6 33. Nxe6 Rxg5 34. Nxg5+ Kg6 35. Bxb2
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to e6 keeps the pressure (+6.0).
- Well found: knight to e6 (+6.0).
- Strong! knight to g5 is the sharp choice (+6.2).
- Great move! bishop to b2 keeps the pressure (+6.5).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qxe6, then Nxe6 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 32. e6+ — pawn to e6 with check
- Qxe6 — queen to e6 (capture)
- 33. Nxe6 — knight to e6 (capture)
- Rxg5 — rook to g5 (capture)
- 34. Nxg5+ — knight to g5 (capture) with check
- Kg6 — king to g6
- 35. Bxb2 — bishop to b2 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Winning blow
Find the strike that wins material by force.
A winning blow is a forced material gain that does not fit a single textbook motif. The general tactical recipe applies: spot loose pieces, an awkwardly placed king, overloaded lines. Go through the forcing moves in order of violence — checks, captures, threats — because most combinations start with one of them. Do not judge by feel: calculate the concrete line until the outcome is beyond doubt.
Simplification
Trade the heavy pieces and steer into a won endgame.
Simplification is how you convert an advantage: by trading queens and rooks you extinguish the counterplay and steer the game into a won endgame. The rule is simple — the side with extra material trades pieces but keeps pawns. Look for exchanges once the material is already won and your opponent is still rattling threats. The mistake is avoiding the queen trade and letting him muddy the water forever.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #19.
SP-19 · BastionGuard — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, with neither knight in a corner.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on e1 and g1, the queen on c1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 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 second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 931.
The engine's main line opens with g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 37 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +30 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #19Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-19
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