Winning blow: knight to h5 (g3·7)
c9-25476naming 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 1560 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 d2, queen f5, rook b1 h1, knight g3, pawn c2 e2 a3 d3 b4 g4.
Black: king g7, queen b6, rook d8 g8, knight e5 f8, pawn d4 b5 a7 c7 e7.
11 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 21.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (28 against 30; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d2, the black king on g7.
It is White to move on move 21, with 48 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): f, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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
21. Nh5+ Kh6 22. Qxe5 Qf6 23. Nxf6+
Why it works
- Great move! knight to h5 keeps the pressure (#7).
- Spot on — queen to e5 (#6).
- Precise: knight to f6 is the top choice (#4).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kh6, then Qxe5 and you win the knight.
Move by move
- 21. Nh5+ — knight to h5 with check
- Kh6 — king to h6
- 22. Qxe5 — queen to e5 (capture)
- Qf6 — queen to f6
- 23. Nxf6+ — knight to f6 (capture) with check
Types in this puzzle
Discovered check
The moving piece opens a check — and is free to grab anything meanwhile.
With a discovered check the moving piece unmasks a check from the piece standing behind it. While the king deals with the check, the piece that moved grabs whatever it likes, free of charge. Look for your long-range piece on a line with the enemy king, with exactly one of your own pieces in between. The rule: among all the ways to step aside, pick the one that captures or attacks the most expensive loot.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #499.
SP-499 · ThroneGuard — A central king (d or e) and two knights tucked onto inner files: the family that holds the standard array, SP-518.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on b1 and g1, the queen on c1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
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: a2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 547.
The engine's main line opens with b3.
Morozov Balance Index: 71 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +18 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
In 50 self-play games White scored 54.0% (95% CI 40.4–67.0%).
Explore position #499Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-499
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