Winning blow: rook to g8 (g1·12)
c9-26230naming 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 e1, queen f3, rook d1 g1, bishop b1, knight b3 d5, pawn a2 b2 e2 f2.
Black: king f8, queen h6, rook d8 g8, bishop c8, knight b6, pawn h2 h4 a7 b7 d7 f7.
11 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 14.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (32 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 e1, the black king on f8.
It is White to move on move 14, with 52 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d, h.
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
14. Rxg8+ Kxg8 15. Qg2+ Kf8 16. Qxh2 Nxd5 17. Rxd5
Why it works
- Great move! rook to g8 keeps the pressure (+3.7).
- Spot on — queen to g2 (+3.9).
- Precise: queen to h2 is the top choice (+3.5).
- Great move! rook to d5 keeps the pressure (+3.6).
- You reach a winning position (+3.6).
- If instead Kxg8, then Qg2+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 14. Rxg8+ — rook to g8 (capture) with check
- Kxg8 — king to g8 (capture)
- 15. Qg2+ — queen to g2 with check
- Kf8 — king to f8
- 16. Qxh2 — queen to h2 (capture)
- Nxd5 — knight to d5 (capture)
- 17. Rxd5 — rook to d5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Decoy
A sacrifice lures the king or a piece onto a fatal square.
A decoy is the mirror image of deflection: you sacrifice to drag the king or a piece onto a fatal square. The classic is a queen or rook sac whose capture pulls the king into a knight fork, a discovered check or mate. Find the square where the target will be hit, then find the offer it cannot refuse. Calculate to the very end — a decoy only works when the follow-up is forced.
Mate defense
Mate is threatened — parry it and stay on top.
Mate defense: your opponent is one move from mating you — but it is your turn, and that changes everything. Find the defense that kills the mating threat while keeping your advantage: often a check or a counter-threat that leaves no time for the mate. First name the exact square where the mate would land — otherwise you are defending blind. The mistake is playing a "defensive" move that does not actually remove the threat.
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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #276.
SP-276 · ThroneScout — King on a central file (d/e) with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
The king starts on e1, the rooks on d1 and g1, the queen on h1.
The queenside rook already stands on d1, so castling long moves only the king, from e1 to c1.
The bishops stand on b1 and c1; their long diagonals reach h7 and h6 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
The pawn on e2, f2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 590.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 47 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +27 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #276Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-276
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