Mate in 2: queen to b6 (b2)
c9-26252naming 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.
Mate in 2: the first move creates an unstoppable threat, the second delivers mate.
Difficulty 1320 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.
Mate in two usually opens with a forcing move — a check, a capture or an unstoppable threat — that strips the king of squares or defenders, so the follow-up mate becomes unavoidable. Look for the first move that leaves the opponent only losing replies.
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 c1, queen b2, rook a1, bishop e1, knight e5 e7, pawn e2 f2 h2 a4 c4 c5.
Black: king c7, rook a8 d8, bishop f5 h8, pawn b6 g6 b7 f7 h7.
12 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 19.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 8 points of material (29 against 21; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on c1, the black king on c7.
It is White to move on move 19, with 41 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, g.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
19. Qxb6+ Kb8 20. N5c6#
Why it works
- Great move! queen to b6 keeps the pressure (#1).
- Spot on — knight to c6 (#).
- The line ends in a forced mate in 2.
- If instead Kb8, then N5c6# and it is mate.
Move by move
- 19. Qxb6+ — queen to b6 (capture) with check
- Kb8 — king to b8
- 20. N5c6# — knight to c6 and it is checkmate
Types in this puzzle
Knight mate
The knight lands the killing blow from its unique angle.
In a knight mate the final blow comes from the knight — the only piece whose check can never be blocked. That makes it lethal against a cramped king: only a king move or capturing the knight itself can help. The sign: the squares around the king are occupied or covered, and there is a hop from which the knight checks while staying untouchable. Bring the knight over early — it is slower than the long-range pieces, but its strike cannot be parried.
Mate in 2
A forced checkmate in two moves.
Mate in two: your move, any reply, then the mating blow. Start with the most forcing first moves — checks and sacrifices that shrink the opponent's options to almost nothing. Against every single reply you must have a mate ready, so check them all without exception. The common failure is analyzing the pretty defense and forgetting the boring one.
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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #891.
SP-891 · BastionGuard — King shifted to c or f, knights kept clear of the edges — 168 positions in all.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on a1 and d1, the queen on b1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 65.
The engine's main line opens with g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 2 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +53 centipawns for White (depth 41, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #891Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 010 · SP-891
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