Winning blow: queen to e7 (e3·2)
c9-26610naming 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 g2, queen e3, rook d1 f1, pawn h2 g4 f6.
Black: king b7, queen b6, rook a8, bishop g7, pawn b4 d4 a5 d5 c6 f7 h7.
7 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 38.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (22 against 24; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g2, the black king on b7.
It is White to move on move 38, with 46 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 7. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, b, c, d.
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
38. Qe7+ Qc7 39. Qxc7+ Kxc7 40. fxg7 Rg8 41. Rxf7+
Why it works
- Great move! queen to e7 keeps the pressure (+4.1).
- Well found: queen to c7 (+4.2).
- Strong! pawn to g7 is the sharp choice (+4.3).
- Great move! rook to f7 keeps the pressure (+4.9).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qc7, then Qxc7+ and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 38. Qe7+ — queen to e7 with check
- Qc7 — queen to c7
- 39. Qxc7+ — queen to c7 (capture) with check
- Kxc7 — king to c7 (capture)
- 40. fxg7 — pawn to g7 (capture)
- Rg8 — rook to g8
- 41. Rxf7+ — rook to f7 (capture) with check
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.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
Simplification
Trade the heavy pieces and steer into a won endgame.
Simplification is how you convert an advantage: by trading queens and rooks you extinguish the counterplay and steer the game into a won endgame. The rule is simple — the side with extra material trades pieces but keeps pawns. Look for exchanges once the material is already won and your opponent is still rattling threats. The mistake is avoiding the queen trade and letting him muddy the water forever.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #294.
SP-294 · ThroneScout — King on a central file (d/e) with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
The king starts on e1, the rooks on d1 and g1, the queen on a1.
The queenside rook already stands on d1, so castling long moves only the king, from e1 to c1.
The bishops stand on c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: c2, h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 374.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 24 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +35 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #294Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-294
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