Winning blow: pawn to f5 (g4·11)
c9-26577naming 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, queen h6, rook e1 g1, bishop b1 a5, knight b3, pawn a2 b2 f2 e4 g4 h5.
Black: king g8, queen c8, rook c7 f8, bishop b8 e8, knight b6 h8, pawn d4 f5 f6 a7 d7 e7.
13 white and 14 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 17.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 3 points of material (34 against 37; 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 g8.
It is White to move on move 17, with 40 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d.
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
17. gxf5+ Bg6 18. hxg6 Qa6+ 19. Re2 Qxe2+ 20. Kxe2
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to f5 keeps the pressure (#7).
- Spot on — pawn to g6 (#6).
- A natural move: rook to e2.
- Great move! king to e2 keeps the pressure (#5).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Bg6, then hxg6 and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 17. gxf5+ — pawn to f5 (capture) with check
- Bg6 — bishop to g6
- 18. hxg6 — pawn to g6 (capture)
- Qa6+ — queen to a6 with check
- 19. Re2 — rook to e2
- Qxe2+ — queen to e2 (capture) with check
- 20. Kxe2 — king to e2 (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.
Discovered check
The moving piece opens a check — and is free to grab anything meanwhile.
With a discovered check the moving piece unmasks a check from the piece standing behind it. While the king deals with the check, the piece that moved grabs whatever it likes, free of charge. Look for your long-range piece on a line with the enemy king, with exactly one of your own pieces in between. The rule: among all the ways to step aside, pick the one that captures or attacks the most expensive loot.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #328.
SP-328 · BastionScout — A knight on the a- or h-file, king on c or f — the mirror twin lands here as well.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on d1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: b2, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 349.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 5 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +49 centipawns for White (depth 49, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #328Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-328
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