Winning blow: rook to f6 (f1·10)
c9-25319naming 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 1290 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 h1, rook d1 f1, bishop a1, knight b1 g3, pawn a2 e2 g2 h2.
Black: king e6, queen d7, rook g8, bishop b6 a8, knight b4, pawn a5 g5 h7.
10 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 22.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 3 points of material (23 against 26; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on h1, the black king on e6.
It is White to move on move 22, with 36 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, c, d, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 0 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
22. Rf6+ Ke7 23. Rxd7+ Kxd7 24. Rxb6
Why it works
- Great move! rook to f6 keeps the pressure (+3.5).
- Spot on — rook to d7 (+3.5).
- Strong! rook to b6 is the sharp choice (+3.5).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Ke7, then Rxd7+ and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 22. Rf6+ — rook to f6 with check
- Ke7 — king to e7
- 23. Rxd7+ — rook to d7 (capture) with check
- Kxd7 — king to d7 (capture)
- 24. Rxb6 — rook to b6 (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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #305.
SP-305 · BastionScout — King shifted to c or f, with a knight committed to the corner from move one.
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 BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 363.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 31 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +32 centipawns for White (depth 42, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #305Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-305
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