Winning blow: bishop to d5 (e4·12)
c9-25794naming 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 c1, queen c4, rook f1, bishop e4 g5, pawn b2 h2 c3 g3 c5.
Black: king e6, queen e5, rook b8, bishop d6, knight d5 f8, pawn h5 a7 d7.
10 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 26.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (25 against 26; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on c1, the black king on e6.
It is White to move on move 26, with 50 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, d.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
26. Bxd5+ Qxd5 27. Rf6+ Ke7 28. Qxd5
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to d5 keeps the pressure (#5).
- Spot on — rook to f6 (#4).
- Precise: queen to d5 is the top choice (#3).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qxd5, then Rf6+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 26. Bxd5+ — bishop to d5 (capture) with check
- Qxd5 — queen to d5 (capture)
- 27. Rf6+ — rook to f6 with check
- Ke7 — king to e7
- 28. Qxd5 — queen to d5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Win the pinned piece
The pinned piece cannot run — attack it again and win it.
A pinned piece cannot flee, which means you can win it outright by attacking it one more time. Count attackers against defenders: if you outnumber them, the piece is yours. The best extra attacker is a pawn, since it costs less than anything it might capture. Do not rush the capture — build up the pressure first, then harvest.
Counter-strike
Don't defend — answer the threat with a bigger one.
The counter-strike: instead of defending against the threat, you answer with a bigger threat of your own. While your opponent grabs a pawn, you deliver mate — the arithmetic favors you. Look for a counter when direct defenses fail: do you have a check, an attack on the queen, a mating threat? The beginner's error is meeting every threat with a reflexive defense without checking the counterattacking resources first.
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 #380.
SP-380 · ThroneScout — The king starts on d or e while at least one knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and e1, the queen on h1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
The bishops stand on b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: b2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 300.
The engine's main line opens with O-O-O, bringing the king out to c1.
Morozov Balance Index: 95 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +9 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #380Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-380
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