Winning blow: bishop to b4 (c3·5)
c9-26106naming 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 1250 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, rook e1 f1, bishop c3 c4, pawn f2 h2 g3.
Black: king g8, rook c5 f8, bishop a8, pawn e5 a7 f7 g7.
8 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 32.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 2 points of material (19 against 17; 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 g8.
It is White to move on move 32, with 29 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, c, d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, e.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
32. Bb4 Rxc4 33. Bxf8 Kxf8 34. Rxe5
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to b4 keeps the pressure (+3.6).
- Well found: bishop to f8 (+3.6).
- Precise: rook to e5 is the top choice (+3.5).
- You reach a winning position (+3.5).
- If instead Rxc4, then Bxf8 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 32. Bb4 — bishop to b4
- Rxc4 — rook to c4 (capture)
- 33. Bxf8 — bishop to f8 (capture)
- Kxf8 — king to f8 (capture)
- 34. Rxe5 — rook to e5 (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 #305.
SP-305 · BastionScout — King shifted to c or f, with a knight committed to the corner from move one.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on e1 and g1, the queen on c1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 363.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 31 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +32 centipawns for White (depth 42, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #305Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-305
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