Winning blow: pawn to f5 (e4·13)
c9-26211naming 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 g1, queen g4, rook f1 h1, bishop c1 h5, knight b1, pawn a2 b2 c2 f2 g2 h2 e4.
Black: king e6, queen c6, rook f8 h8, bishop c8 d8, knight a8 b8, pawn c5 f5 d6 a7 b7 h7.
14 white and 14 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 11.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (35 against 37; 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 e6.
It is White to move on move 11, with 38 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 6. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: d.
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
11. exf5+ Kd7 12. Qg7+ Be7 13. Re1 Kc7 14. Rxe7+
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to f5 keeps the pressure (+4.3).
- Well found: queen to g7 (+4.9).
- Precise: rook to e1 is the top choice (+4.0).
- Best move. rook to e7 is exactly what the engine plays (+4.5).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Kd7, then Qg7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 11. exf5+ — pawn to f5 (capture) with check
- Kd7 — king to d7
- 12. Qg7+ — queen to g7 with check
- Be7 — bishop to e7
- 13. Re1 — rook to e1
- Kc7 — king to c7
- 14. Rxe7+ — rook to e7 (capture) with check
Types in this puzzle
Win the pinned piece
The pinned piece cannot run — attack it again and win it.
A pinned piece cannot flee, which means you can win it outright by attacking it one more time. Count attackers against defenders: if you outnumber them, the piece is yours. The best extra attacker is a pawn, since it costs less than anything it might capture. Do not rush the capture — build up the pressure first, then harvest.
Development punish
Half the army still asleep — the attack breaks through.
Punishing lazy development: half of your opponent's army is asleep on its starting squares, which means you outnumber him where the fight is. Count not the pieces on the board but the pieces in play — if five or more of his pieces have never moved, look for a forcing attack. The sign is a development lead plus open lines toward his king. Strike immediately: give him two quiet moves and the advantage evaporates.
Trapped piece
The attacked piece has no safe square — it is caught.
Trapping a piece means the attacked piece has no safe square left — it simply perishes. Do not chase it around; build a cage instead: cut off the escape squares with pawns and pieces first, and attack last. The typical victim has wandered deep into your camp or is stuck at the edge of the board, where its mobility is tiny. And always check the way home for your own raiders — or the trapped piece will be yours.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #37.
SP-37 · RampartScout — A wing-file king (b or g) and at least one corner knight: the rarest of the six families, just 72 positions.
The king starts on g1, the rooks on f1 and h1, the queen on e1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
The bishops stand on c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 922.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 55 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +25 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #37Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-37
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