Winning blow: rook to f7 (f6·4)
c9-25786naming 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 1790 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
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 f1, queen a5, rook f6, bishop e6, knight c1 g5, pawn b2 f2 g2 a3 d4.
Black: king g7, queen h6, rook d8 h8, bishop d6, knight b6, pawn h5 c6 a7 b7 h7.
11 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 24.
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 f1, the black king on g7.
It is White to move on move 24, with 51 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): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, h.
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
24. Rf7+ Kg8 25. Qf5 Qxe6 26. Qxe6
Why it works
- Great move! rook to f7 keeps the pressure (#4).
- queen to f5 develops smoothly.
- Precise: queen to e6 is the top choice (#2).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kg8, then Qf5 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 24. Rf7+ — rook to f7 with check
- Kg8 — king to g8
- 25. Qf5 — queen to f5
- Qxe6 — queen to e6 (capture)
- 26. Qxe6 — queen to e6 (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 #228.
SP-228 · BastionScout — King off-centre on c or f with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
The king starts on f1, the rooks on d1 and h1, the queen on e1.
The queenside rook already stands on d1, so castling long moves only the king, from f1 to c1.
The bishops stand on b1 and c1; their long diagonals reach h7 and h6 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
The pawn on g2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 638.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 55 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +25 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #228Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 013 · SP-228
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