Winning blow: knight to b3 (c1)
c9-25767naming 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 b1, rook e2, bishop e3, knight c1 g3, pawn b2 h2 f4.
Black: king c7, queen b3, rook a8, bishop d6, knight g6, pawn g4 f5 h5 b7.
8 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 32.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 7 points of material (17 against 24; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b1, the black king on c7.
It is White to move on move 32, with 22 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, c, d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: g.
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
32. Nxb3 Bxf4 33. Bxf4+ Nxf4 34. Re7+ Kd6 35. Nxf5+
Why it works
- Great move! knight to b3 keeps the pressure (+3.0).
- Spot on — bishop to f4 (+3.4).
- Precise: rook to e7 is the top choice (+3.0).
- Best move. knight to f5 is exactly what the engine plays (+3.2).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Bxf4, then Bxf4+ and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 32. Nxb3 — knight to b3 (capture)
- Bxf4 — bishop to f4 (capture)
- 33. Bxf4+ — bishop to f4 (capture) with check
- Nxf4 — knight to f4 (capture)
- 34. Re7+ — rook to e7 with check
- Kd6 — king to d6
- 35. Nxf5+ — knight to f5 (capture) with check
Types in this puzzle
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.
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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #861.
SP-861 · RampartGuard — King pushed to the b- or g-file, knights off the edges — 144 positions here.
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and e1, the queen on h1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
The pawn on b2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 104.
The engine's main line opens with a4.
Morozov Balance Index: 59 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +24 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #861Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-861
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