Winning blow: bishop to f3 (d1·2)
c9-26059naming 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 1340 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 h2, queen h1, rook a1 f1, bishop d1 e1, knight c1 b7, pawn a2 b2 c2 d2 g3 f4 h4.
Black: king e7, queen h6, rook e8 g8, bishop e4 f6, knight c6 d6, pawn h5 e6 a7 c7 g7.
15 white and 13 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 13.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 2 points of material (38 against 36; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on h2, the black king on e7.
It is White to move on move 13, with 32 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 5. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: e.
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
13. Bf3 Bxf3 14. Qxf3
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to f3 keeps the pressure (+2.9).
- Well found: queen to f3 (+3.1).
- You reach a winning position (+3.1).
- If instead Bxf3, then Qxf3 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 13. Bf3 — bishop to f3
- Bxf3 — bishop to f3 (capture)
- 14. Qxf3 — queen to f3 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Quiet move
No check, no capture — yet this modest move decides the game.
A quiet move gives no check and takes nothing — yet it decides the game by creating an unstoppable threat or stealing the king's last square. This is the hardest class of moves: the eye hunts for loud blows while a modest shift does the winning. The clue: every forcing try runs into a defense, so seek the move that strengthens the threat or takes squares away. Train yourself to ask: what if I neither capture nor check, but quietly improve?
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #473.
SP-473 · BastionGuard — Off-centre king (c/f), no knight on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on a1 and g1, the queen on h1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
The bishops stand on d1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a5 once the e- and d-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: b2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 681.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 7 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +47 centipawns for White (depth 42, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #473Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 010 · SP-473
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