Winning blow: queen to f6 (f3·3)
c9-25622naming 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.
A fork made possible by the Chess960 piece placement.
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.
A set-up fork needs one preparing move before the fork lands — a check that drives the king onto the forking square, or a capture that lines the targets up. Find the preparation first, then the fork it makes possible.
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, queen f3, rook d1 g3, bishop e1 f1, pawn b2 f2 g2 a3 h4.
Black: king g8, queen b7, rook f6 d8, bishop e8 f8, knight c6, pawn b5 h5 a6 g6 f7.
11 white and 12 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 (30 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 g1, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 22, with 40 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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
22. Qxf6 Rxd1 23. Bc3 Nd4 24. Bxd4 Rxd4 25. Qxd4
Why it works
- Great move! queen to f6 keeps the pressure (+3.2).
- Well found: bishop to c3 (+3.2).
- Strong! bishop to d4 is the sharp choice (+3.5).
- Great move! queen to d4 keeps the pressure (+3.4).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Rxd1, then Bc3 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 22. Qxf6 — queen to f6 (capture)
- Rxd1 — rook to d1 (capture)
- 23. Bc3 — bishop to c3
- Nd4 — knight to d4
- 24. Bxd4 — bishop to d4 (capture)
- Rxd4 — rook to d4 (capture)
- 25. Qxd4 — queen to d4 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Setup fork
The random setup allows a fork that classical chess never sees.
A setup fork is a double attack that exists only because of the unusual starting squares — in classical chess these targets never stand side by side. Look for pairs of undefended pieces on your opponent's back rank and for squares from which a knight or pawn hits both at once. Such forks usually appear within the first moves, before the pieces disperse. In every new position, note right away which starting pieces are defended by no one.
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.
Winning exchange
A forced series of captures on one square ends in your favour.
A winning exchange is a forced series of captures on one square that leaves you ahead in material. It is pure arithmetic: count the attackers and defenders of the square and note the value of every piece in the queue. Capture in the right order — cheap pieces first, expensive ones later — or a winning trade turns into a losing one. The classic error is stopping the count halfway and missing the opponent's final recapture.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #426.
SP-426 · RampartGuard — King on the wing (b/g) with both knights on inner files.
The king starts on g1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on c1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
The bishops stand on e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 725.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 26 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +34 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #426Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-426
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