Winning blow: king to c1 (b1·23)
c9-26370naming 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 1390 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 b1, queen a5, rook a1 f1, bishop d1 d6, knight e4, pawn c2 g2 h2 d3 a4.
Black: king c6, queen f7, rook b8 h8, bishop f5 f6, pawn c5 a6 a7 g7 h7.
12 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 19.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 3 points of material (33 against 30; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b1, the black king on c6.
It is White to move on move 19, with 5 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle. White are in check right now, so every reply must answer the check.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, e, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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. Kc1 Bxe4 20. Rxf6 gxf6 21. Qxc5+ Kd7 22. dxe4
Why it works
- Great move! king to c1 keeps the pressure (+6.4).
- Spot on — rook to f6 (+6.5).
- Precise: queen to c5 is the top choice (+6.8).
- Great move! pawn to e4 keeps the pressure (+7.8).
- You win decisive material (+7.8).
- If instead Bxe4, then Rxf6 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 19. Kc1 — king to c1
- Bxe4 — bishop to e4 (capture)
- 20. Rxf6 — rook to f6 (capture)
- gxf6 — pawn to f6 (capture)
- 21. Qxc5+ — queen to c5 (capture) with check
- Kd7 — king to d7
- 22. dxe4 — pawn to e4 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Winning blow
Find the strike that wins material by force.
A winning blow is a forced material gain that does not fit a single textbook motif. The general tactical recipe applies: spot loose pieces, an awkwardly placed king, overloaded lines. Go through the forcing moves in order of violence — checks, captures, threats — because most combinations start with one of them. Do not judge by feel: calculate the concrete line until the outcome is beyond doubt.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #709.
SP-709 · 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 h1, the queen on e1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
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: g2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 442.
The engine's main line opens with a4.
Morozov Balance Index: 83 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +16 centipawns for White (depth 50, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #709Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 010 · SP-709
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