Winning blow: rook to c6 (c1·10)
c9-26283naming 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 1430 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 d2, queen a8, rook c1, bishop b3 h6, knight e7, pawn d3 e4 h4.
Black: king c7, queen b8, rook g8 h8, bishop d7, pawn a4 b5 e5 g5 c6 h7.
9 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 34.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (26 against 28; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on d2, the black king on c7.
It is White to move on move 34, with 46 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, b, c, g.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 6 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
34. Rxc6+ Bxc6 35. Qxc6+ Kd8 36. Nxg8 Rxg8 37. Bxg8
Why it works
- Great move! rook to c6 keeps the pressure (#14).
- Well found: queen to c6 (#13).
- Precise: knight to g8 is the top choice (#12).
- Great move! bishop to g8 keeps the pressure (#11).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Bxc6, then Qxc6+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 34. Rxc6+ — rook to c6 (capture) with check
- Bxc6 — bishop to c6 (capture)
- 35. Qxc6+ — queen to c6 (capture) with check
- Kd8 — king to d8
- 36. Nxg8 — knight to g8 (capture)
- Rxg8 — rook to g8 (capture)
- 37. Bxg8 — bishop to g8 (capture)
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.
Counter-strike
Don't defend — answer the threat with a bigger one.
The counter-strike: instead of defending against the threat, you answer with a bigger threat of your own. While your opponent grabs a pawn, you deliver mate — the arithmetic favors you. Look for a counter when direct defenses fail: do you have a check, an attack on the queen, a mating threat? The beginner's error is meeting every threat with a reflexive defense without checking the counterattacking resources first.
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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #565.
SP-565 · ThroneGuard — A central king (d or e) and two knights tucked onto inner files: the family that holds the standard array, SP-518.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on a1 and g1, the queen on h1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
The bishops stand on c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
The pawn on f2 is defended by the king alone — the classic soft spot of the standard setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 490.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 6 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +60 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
In 50 self-play games White scored 52.0% (95% CI 38.5–65.2%).
Explore position #565Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-565
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads