Mate in 2: queen to a6 (e2·4)
c9-25862naming 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.
Mate in 2: the first move creates an unstoppable threat, the second delivers mate.
Difficulty 1450 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.
Mate in two usually opens with a forcing move — a check, a capture or an unstoppable threat — that strips the king of squares or defenders, so the follow-up mate becomes unavoidable. Look for the first move that leaves the opponent only losing replies.
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 a1, queen e2, rook h1 a8, knight b1, pawn h2 g3 a4 d4 e5.
Black: king b6, bishop b4, pawn g4 h4 a5 c5 a6 d7.
10 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 33.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 18 points of material (27 against 9; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on a1, the black king on b6.
It is White to move on move 33, with 41 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c.
The White king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
33. Qxa6+ Kc7 34. Rc8#
Why it works
- Best move. queen to a6 is exactly what the engine plays (#1).
- Spot on — rook to c8 (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 2.
- If instead Kc7, then Rc8# and it is mate.
Move by move
- 33. Qxa6+ — queen to a6 (capture) with check
- Kc7 — king to c7
- 34. Rc8# — rook to c8 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Mate in 2
A forced checkmate in two moves.
Mate in two: your move, any reply, then the mating blow. Start with the most forcing first moves — checks and sacrifices that shrink the opponent's options to almost nothing. Against every single reply you must have a mate ready, so check them all without exception. The common failure is analyzing the pretty defense and forgetting the boring one.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #542.
SP-542 · BastionGuard — A c- or f-file king and two knights on inner files (b–g).
The king starts on c1, the rooks on a1 and h1, 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 BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 516.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 43 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +28 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #542Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-542
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