Winning blow: rook to c7 (c1·14)
c9-25327naming 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 f4, rook c1, knight e3, pawn a2 h2 f3 b4.
Black: king f7, queen h5, rook h8, pawn b5 f5 d6 e6 a7 c7 h7.
8 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 23.
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 f7.
It is White to move on move 23, with 42 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 7. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, d, e.
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
23. Rxc7+ Kg6 24. Qg3+ Qg5 25. Rg7+ Kxg7 26. Qxg5+
Why it works
- Great move! rook to c7 keeps the pressure (+6.8).
- Spot on — queen to g3 (+7.4).
- Strong! rook to g7 is the sharp choice (+7.6).
- Great move! queen to g5 keeps the pressure (+7.6).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kg6, then Qg3+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 23. Rxc7+ — rook to c7 (capture) with check
- Kg6 — king to g6
- 24. Qg3+ — queen to g3 with check
- Qg5 — queen to g5
- 25. Rg7+ — rook to g7 with check
- Kxg7 — king to g7 (capture)
- 26. Qxg5+ — queen to g5 (capture) with check
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.
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.
Check chase
Every move is a check — the king is chased into losing ground.
In a check chase every one of your moves is a check, so the opponent never gets a free second. The king is herded across the board until it loses a piece or walks into a decisive blow. Such lines are the easiest to calculate: each check allows only a handful of replies, so try them all. Make it a habit to start calculating any sharp position with the checks — they are the most forcing moves on the board.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #435.
SP-435 · BastionGuard — King shifted to c or f, knights kept clear of the edges — 168 positions in all.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on b1 and g1, the queen on e1.
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: c2, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 707.
The engine's main line opens with b3.
Morozov Balance Index: 51 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +26 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #435Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-435
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