Winning blow: queen to c6 (c5·6)
c9-25897naming 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 g1, queen c5, rook f1, pawn f2 h2 a3 b3 e3 g3 a7.
Black: king f8, queen h4, rook e7 g8, bishop c6, pawn h5 f6 f7.
10 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 23.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 4 points of material (21 against 25; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g1, the black king on f8.
It is White to move on move 23, with 33 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
The White king has 0 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
23. Qxc6 Rxa7 24. Qc8+ Kg7 25. Qxg8+ Kxg8 26. gxh4
Why it works
- Great move! queen to c6 keeps the pressure (+4.1).
- Well found: queen to c8 (+4.2).
- Precise: queen to g8 is the top choice (+4.3).
- Great move! pawn to h4 keeps the pressure (+4.0).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Rxa7, then Qc8+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 23. Qxc6 — queen to c6 (capture)
- Rxa7 — rook to a7 (capture)
- 24. Qc8+ — queen to c8 with check
- Kg7 — king to g7
- 25. Qxg8+ — queen to g8 (capture) with check
- Kxg8 — king to g8 (capture)
- 26. gxh4 — pawn to h4 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Skewer
A line attack forces the valuable piece to move, exposing the one behind it.
A skewer is a pin turned inside out: the valuable piece stands in front and something cheaper hides behind it. The big piece must step aside, and you collect the one that was sheltering in its shadow. Scan for the enemy king or queen sharing a file, rank or diagonal with another enemy piece. The deadliest version comes with check — the king moves, the rook behind it dies.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
Simplification
Trade the heavy pieces and steer into a won endgame.
Simplification is how you convert an advantage: by trading queens and rooks you extinguish the counterplay and steer the game into a won endgame. The rule is simple — the side with extra material trades pieces but keeps pawns. Look for exchanges once the material is already won and your opponent is still rattling threats. The mistake is avoiding the queen trade and letting him muddy the water forever.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #210.
SP-210 · ThroneGuard — King on a central file (d/e) with both knights on inner files — the classic-type setup.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on d1 and h1, the queen on c1.
The queenside rook already stands on d1, so castling long moves only the king, from e1 to c1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 647.
The engine's main line opens with Nf3, bringing the knight out to f3.
Morozov Balance Index: 99 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +4 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #210Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-210
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads