Attack on the uncastled king: queen to h6 (h8·2)
c9-26165naming 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.
Uncastled king: the enemy king is stuck in the centre — punish it before it castles.
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.
An uncastled king in the centre is a standing target. Look for ways to open the central files and diagonals against it with checks and threats before it can shelter — every tempo the king spends in the middle is a chance for a combination.
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 f1, queen h8, rook e1 g1, bishop d1, pawn c2 f2 d3 d5 g5.
Black: king f8, queen a3, rook e8 g8, knight e4, pawn a4 b6 c7 d7 f7.
10 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 19.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 27 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on f1, the black king on f8.
It is White to move on move 19, with 37 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, b.
The White king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
19. Qh6+ Ke7 20. g6 fxg6 21. Qh4+ Kf7 22. dxe4
Why it works
- Great move! queen to h6 keeps the pressure (+3.6).
- Spot on — pawn to g6 (+3.6).
- Precise: queen to h4 is the top choice (+3.9).
- Best move. pawn to e4 is exactly what the engine plays (+3.9).
- You reach a winning position (+3.9).
- If instead Ke7, then g6 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 19. Qh6+ — queen to h6 with check
- Ke7 — king to e7
- 20. g6 — pawn to g6
- fxg6 — pawn to g6 (capture)
- 21. Qh4+ — queen to h4 with check
- Kf7 — king to f7
- 22. dxe4 — pawn to e4 (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.
Uncastled king
The king lingered in the middle — punish the delay.
Punishing the uncastled king: your opponent delayed castling, and now his king is stuck on its starting square under fire. In Chess960 this is deadlier than in classical chess — the king may start in the center or near the edge, and the familiar defensive setups simply do not apply. The signs: the victim still holds castling rights, and the files toward his king are half-open. Open lines before the king manages to hide.
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 #81.
SP-81 · BastionGuard — King shifted to c or f, knights kept clear of the edges — 168 positions in all.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on e1 and g1, the queen on h1.
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 pawn on f2 is defended by the king alone — the classic soft spot of the standard setup.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 875.
The engine's main line opens with g4.
Morozov Balance Index: 24 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +35 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #81Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-81
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