Winning blow: queen to g7 (g6)
c9-26385naming 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.
A fork made possible by the Chess960 piece placement.
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.
A set-up fork needs one preparing move before the fork lands — a check that drives the king onto the forking square, or a capture that lines the targets up. Find the preparation first, then the fork it makes possible.
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 c1, queen g6, rook d1 g1, bishop f1 d2, knight e2 b3, pawn a2 b2 c2 h3 d4 e4 f4 g4.
Black: king g8, queen g7, rook d8 f8, bishop d6 e6, knight a4 c7, pawn h4 e5 g5 c6 f6 a7 b7 d7.
16 white and 16 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 18.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 39 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on c1, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 18, with 33 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 8 pawns, Black 8. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in.
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
18. Qxg7+ Kxg7 19. dxe5 fxe5 20. f5 Be7 21. fxe6
Why it works
- Great move! queen to g7 keeps the pressure (+3.2).
- Spot on — pawn to e5 (+3.4).
- Strong! pawn to f5 is the sharp choice (+3.3).
- Great move! pawn to e6 keeps the pressure (+3.4).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kxg7, then dxe5 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 18. Qxg7+ — queen to g7 (capture) with check
- Kxg7 — king to g7 (capture)
- 19. dxe5 — pawn to e5 (capture)
- fxe5 — pawn to e5 (capture)
- 20. f5 — pawn to f5
- Be7 — bishop to e7
- 21. fxe6 — pawn to e6 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Setup fork
The random setup allows a fork that classical chess never sees.
A setup fork is a double attack that exists only because of the unusual starting squares — in classical chess these targets never stand side by side. Look for pairs of undefended pieces on your opponent's back rank and for squares from which a knight or pawn hits both at once. Such forks usually appear within the first moves, before the pieces disperse. In every new position, note right away which starting pieces are defended by no one.
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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #186.
SP-186 · ThroneScout — King on a central file (d/e) with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
The king starts on d1, the rooks on b1 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 e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 773.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 61 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +23 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #186Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-186
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