Winning blow: rook to c4 (c1·3)
c9-26132naming 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 b1, queen f2, rook c1, bishop h1 a5, knight e3, pawn b2 a4 d4 f4.
Black: king c8, queen c4, rook c6 e8, bishop f5 f6, knight e7, pawn e4 g5 b7.
10 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 33.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 4 points of material (27 against 31; 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 c8.
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 4 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: e, g.
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
33. Rxc4 Rxc4 34. Nxf5 Nxf5 35. fxg5 Nxd4 36. gxf6
Why it works
- Great move! rook to c4 keeps the pressure (+4.4).
- Spot on — knight to f5 (+5.2).
- Precise: pawn to g5 is the top choice (+5.3).
- Best move. pawn to f6 is exactly what the engine plays (+5.3).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Rxc4, then Nxf5 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 33. Rxc4 — rook to c4 (capture)
- Rxc4 — rook to c4 (capture)
- 34. Nxf5 — knight to f5 (capture)
- Nxf5 — knight to f5 (capture)
- 35. fxg5 — pawn to g5 (capture)
- Nxd4 — knight to d4 (capture)
- 36. gxf6 — pawn to f6 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Overload
One defender guards two things — it cannot do both jobs.
Overloading exploits a defender with two jobs at once — guarding a piece and covering a mating square, for instance. It cannot do both: your first strike forces it to handle one duty and abandon the other. Find the overworked piece by asking what happens to each of its charges if it gets distracted. Then hit one target and collect the other — an overloaded defender only pretends to defend.
X-ray
A long-range piece acts through an enemy piece on the same line.
An X-ray lets a long-range piece act through an enemy piece standing on the same line — its power shines straight through. The square behind looks safe or defended, and that illusion is exactly what the tactic exploits. Check your rooks, bishops and queens: is a key square or a target hiding behind an enemy piece on their line? When counting captures on a square, include the X-ray attackers — they join the fight the moment the line opens.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #839.
SP-839 · RampartGuard — A wing king (b/g) with no knight on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and e1, the queen on f1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 114.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 13 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +41 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #839Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-839
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