Winning blow: knight to g6 (e5·6)
c9-25443naming 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 d1, queen f5, rook c1, bishop a1 h3, knight g3 e5, pawn a2 d2 e2 f2 h2 c6.
Black: king e7, queen d8, rook d6 g8, bishop f6 a8, knight e8, pawn b5 g6 a7 c7 g7.
13 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 15.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (32 against 33; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d1, the black king on e7.
It is White to move on move 15, with 47 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 5. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: b, g.
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
15. Nxg6+ Kf7 16. Ne4 Rxd2+ 17. Ke1 Rxe2+ 18. Kxe2
Why it works
- Great move! knight to g6 keeps the pressure (#8).
- knight to e4 develops smoothly.
- Strong! king to e1 is the sharp choice (#6).
- Great move! king to e2 keeps the pressure (#5).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Kf7, then Ne4 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 15. Nxg6+ — knight to g6 (capture) with check
- Kf7 — king to f7
- 16. Ne4 — knight to e4
- Rxd2+ — rook to d2 (capture) with check
- 17. Ke1 — king to e1
- Rxe2+ — rook to e2 (capture) with check
- 18. Kxe2 — king to e2 (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 #770.
SP-770 · ThroneScout — The king starts on d or e while at least one knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on b1.
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 a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 183.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 83 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +16 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #770Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-770
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