Winning blow: king to a2 (b1·29)
c9-26122naming 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 b1, queen f3, rook c2, bishop g2, knight c1, pawn h2 a4 f4 g4.
Black: king c7, queen d4, knight a3 d6, pawn b4 a5 c6 h6 g7.
9 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 32.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 4 points of material (24 against 20; 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 c7.
It is White to move on move 32, with 2 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle. White are in check right now, so every reply must answer the check.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, c.
The White king has 1 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
32. Ka2 Nxc2 33. Qxc6+ Kd8 34. Qxc2
Why it works
- Great move! king to a2 keeps the pressure (+3.8).
- Well found: queen to c6 (+3.9).
- Precise: queen to c2 is the top choice (+3.7).
- You reach a winning position (+3.7).
- If instead Nxc2, then Qxc6+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 32. Ka2 — king to a2
- Nxc2 — knight to c2 (capture)
- 33. Qxc6+ — queen to c6 (capture) with check
- Kd8 — king to d8
- 34. Qxc2 — queen to c2 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
Defensive exchange
Trade off the attacker — the storm dies with it.
The defensive exchange: your opponent's attack runs on one specific piece — trade it off, and the storm dies down. Find the "engine" of the attack, the piece without which the mating threats stop working: usually the queen or an invading knight. Offer the trade even at a small cost — your king breathes, and the material comes back later. The mistake is greedily dodging the exchange and getting mated a pawn up.
Absolute pin
A piece is pinned against its king — it cannot legally move.
An absolute pin freezes a piece on the line between its own king and your long-range attacker: moving it is simply illegal. The pattern is three units on one straight line — your bishop, rook or queen, an enemy piece, and the enemy king behind it. A pinned piece neither attacks nor defends anything: treat it as if it were off the board. Pile up on it, ideally with a pawn, because running away is against the rules.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #846.
SP-846 · RampartScout — King on the wing (b/g) with a knight on the rim (a/h) — the rarest family.
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and d1, the queen on e1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
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, c2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 116.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 65 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +22 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #846Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-846
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