Winning blow: rook to b1 (f1·4)
c9-25298naming 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, rook f1, bishop h1 f2, knight d4, pawn a2 d2 e3 g3 h3 f4 a6.
Black: king e8, rook b1 f6, bishop h8, knight h5 e6, pawn f5 g6 a7 d7 e7 h7.
12 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 20.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 4 points of material (21 against 25; 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 e8.
It is White to move on move 20, with 28 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, c — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
20. Rxb1 Nxd4 21. exd4 Rxa6 22. Rb8+ Kf7 23. Rxh8
Why it works
- Great move! rook to b1 keeps the pressure (+3.9).
- Spot on — pawn to d4 (+4.0).
- Strong! rook to b8 is the sharp choice (+4.0).
- Great move! rook to h8 keeps the pressure (+4.0).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Nxd4, then exd4 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 20. Rxb1 — rook to b1 (capture)
- Nxd4 — knight to d4 (capture)
- 21. exd4 — pawn to d4 (capture)
- Rxa6 — rook to a6 (capture)
- 22. Rb8+ — rook to b8 with check
- Kf7 — king to f7
- 23. Rxh8 — rook to h8 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Skewer
A line attack forces the valuable piece to move, exposing the one behind it.
A skewer is a pin turned inside out: the valuable piece stands in front and something cheaper hides behind it. The big piece must step aside, and you collect the one that was sheltering in its shadow. Scan for the enemy king or queen sharing a file, rank or diagonal with another enemy piece. The deadliest version comes with check — the king moves, the rook behind it dies.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #207.
SP-207 · ThroneGuard — Both knights start on inner files (b–g) while the king sits centrally on d or e — one of 204 positions filed here.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and f1, the queen on a1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
The pawn on e2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 656.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
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 #207Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-207
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