Winning blow: pawn to b4 (c3·2)
c9-25840naming 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, queen d5, rook f1, knight h2, pawn b2 c3 d3 h4 a5 g5.
Black: king d7, queen h8, rook b4 g8, knight d6, pawn e5 a6 c7 f7 h7.
10 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 27.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 4 points of material (23 against 27; 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 d7.
It is White to move on move 27, with 40 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 5. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: e, f.
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
27. cxb4 Ke7 28. Ng4 Rd8 29. Nf6 h6 30. Qxe5+
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to b4 keeps the pressure (+5.1).
- knight to g4 develops smoothly.
- Precise: knight to f6 is the top choice (+5.7).
- Best move. queen to e5 is exactly what the engine plays (+7.8).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Ke7, then Ng4 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 27. cxb4 — pawn to b4 (capture)
- Ke7 — king to e7
- 28. Ng4 — knight to g4
- Rd8 — rook to d8
- 29. Nf6 — knight to f6
- h6 — pawn to h6
- 30. Qxe5+ — queen to e5 (capture) with check
Types in this puzzle
Interference
A piece lands between defender and defended, cutting the connection.
Interference means planting a piece between the defender and what it defends, cutting the wire. Often it is a sacrifice: the piece lands on a square where it can be taken, yet two enemy defensive lines cross exactly there. Look for that intersection point — the square shared by two of the opponent's lines of defense. The intruder can be captured, but whichever piece takes it abandons its own duty.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #758.
SP-758 · RampartGuard — A b- or g-file king and two knights on inner files (b–g).
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and g1, 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 c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 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 390.
The engine's main line opens with a4.
Morozov Balance Index: 34 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +31 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #758Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-758
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