Winning blow: knight to b4 (d5)
c9-26514naming 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 f1, rook d1 h5, knight d5 d6, pawn a2 e2 f2 b3 g3.
Black: king b8, rook h8, bishop a8, knight b4 g5, pawn b6 g6 h6 d7 f7.
10 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 29.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 2 points of material (21 against 19; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on f1, the black king on b8.
It is White to move on move 29, with 39 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d, h.
The White king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
29. Nxb4 gxh5 30. f4 Ne6 31. Nxf7 Rg8 32. Rxd7
Why it works
- Great move! knight to b4 keeps the pressure (+3.3).
- Spot on — pawn to f4 (+2.3).
- Precise: knight to f7 is the top choice (+2.8).
- Best move. rook to d7 is exactly what the engine plays (+2.9).
- You reach a winning position (+2.9).
- If instead gxh5, then f4 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 29. Nxb4 — knight to b4 (capture)
- gxh5 — pawn to h5 (capture)
- 30. f4 — pawn to f4
- Ne6 — knight to e6
- 31. Nxf7 — knight to f7 (capture)
- Rg8 — rook to g8
- 32. Rxd7 — rook to d7 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Clearance
Clear your own piece out of the way — with tempo — for the decisive blow.
Clearance is about your own piece standing in the way of the decisive blow — so you move it aside, or even throw it away. The key is to clear with tempo: jump off with a check, a capture or a threat, giving the opponent no time to regroup. The telltale sign: you see a crushing queen or rook move, but one of your own pieces blocks the line or occupies the square. Do not cling to it — a clearance sacrifice usually costs less than a missed attack.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #257.
SP-257 · ThroneGuard — King home on d or e, knights kept off the a- and h-files — the family of the standard starting array.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on c1 and h1, the queen on g1.
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.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 603.
The engine's main line opens with b3.
Morozov Balance Index: 55 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +25 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #257Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-257
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