Winning blow: rook to c6 (c5·2)
c9-25789naming 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 1290 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 b2, queen b7, rook f1 c5, bishop e4, pawn d2 h2 b3 c3 a4 g5.
Black: king d6, queen h5, rook e8, bishop f8 g8, knight c6 b8, pawn h4 a5 b6 e6 g7.
11 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 29.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 3 points of material (28 against 31; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b2, the black king on d6.
It is White to move on move 29, with 56 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 — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: e.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 6 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
29. Rxc6+ Ke5 30. Qxb6 Rd8 31. Qxd8
Why it works
- Great move! rook to c6 keeps the pressure (#4).
- Spot on — queen to b6 (#5).
- Precise: queen to d8 is the top choice (#4).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Ke5, then Qxb6 and you win the knight.
Move by move
- 29. Rxc6+ — rook to c6 (capture) with check
- Ke5 — king to e5
- 30. Qxb6 — queen to b6 (capture)
- Rd8 — rook to d8
- 31. Qxd8 — queen to d8 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Queen fork
The queen lands on a square from which it attacks two targets at once.
The queen strikes along files, ranks and diagonals, so she forks more often than any other piece. Look for a square where the queen attacks two undefended targets at once — most often a check combined with a loose piece. Diagonal blows are especially venomous: a slanting check that also eyes a rook in the corner is the classic of the genre. Remember that both targets must be unprotected, or your «fork» is just a shot into the air.
Remove the defender
Capture the guard first — then take what it protected.
Removing the defender is the straightforward plan: capture the guard first, then take what it guarded. Unlike deflection, the defender is not lured away — it is traded off or destroyed on the spot. Stare at the target you crave and ask who defends it, and whether that defender can be profitably eaten. Count the whole capture sequence, not just the first move — the trade must pay off at the end.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #638.
SP-638 · BastionScout — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, and a knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on a1 and e1, the queen on d1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
The bishops stand on f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 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 BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 228.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 28 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +33 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #638Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-638
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