Winning blow: pawn to f6 (g5·13)
c9-26210naming 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 b2, queen c4, rook b5, knight c3, pawn c2 b3 a4 h4 c5 g5.
Black: king b8, queen g8, rook d5, bishop f6 g6, pawn a5 c6 b7 h7.
10 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 39.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (23 against 24; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b2, the black king on b8.
It is White to move on move 39, with 21 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d, e, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 5 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
39. gxf6 cxb5 40. Qxd5 Qxd5 41. Nxd5 bxa4 42. bxa4
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to f6 keeps the pressure (+5.0).
- Well found: queen to d5 (+5.0).
- Strong! knight to d5 is the sharp choice (+5.2).
- Best move. pawn to a4 is exactly what the engine plays (+5.3).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead cxb5, then Qxd5 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 39. gxf6 — pawn to f6 (capture)
- cxb5 — pawn to b5 (capture)
- 40. Qxd5 — queen to d5 (capture)
- Qxd5 — queen to d5 (capture)
- 41. Nxd5 — knight to d5 (capture)
- bxa4 — pawn to a4 (capture)
- 42. bxa4 — pawn to a4 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Winning exchange
A forced series of captures on one square ends in your favour.
A winning exchange is a forced series of captures on one square that leaves you ahead in material. It is pure arithmetic: count the attackers and defenders of the square and note the value of every piece in the queue. Capture in the right order — cheap pieces first, expensive ones later — or a winning trade turns into a losing one. The classic error is stopping the count halfway and missing the opponent's final recapture.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
Simplification
Trade the heavy pieces and steer into a won endgame.
Simplification is how you convert an advantage: by trading queens and rooks you extinguish the counterplay and steer the game into a won endgame. The rule is simple — the side with extra material trades pieces but keeps pawns. Look for exchanges once the material is already won and your opponent is still rattling threats. The mistake is avoiding the queen trade and letting him muddy the water forever.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #763.
SP-763 · RampartGuard — The king starts out on a wing file, b or g, with neither knight in a corner.
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and f1, the queen on g1.
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.
The pawn on c2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 385.
The engine's main line opens with g4.
Morozov Balance Index: 69 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +21 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #763Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-763
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