Winning blow: queen to c6 (b5·5)
c9-26685naming 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 b2, queen b5, rook b3, bishop a1, knight e3, pawn c2 h2 a3 g3 b4 e4.
Black: king c8, queen e1, rook d8, bishop f8, knight c6 g6, pawn a5 e5 f6 c7 g7 h7.
11 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 19.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 3 points of material (26 against 29; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b2, the black king on c8.
It is White to move on move 19, with 31 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): d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: f.
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. Qxc6 axb4 20. Nd5 Rxd5 21. Qxd5 Bd6 22. axb4
Why it works
- Great move! queen to c6 keeps the pressure (+2.7).
- knight to d5 develops smoothly.
- Precise: queen to d5 is the top choice (+3.0).
- Best move. pawn to b4 is exactly what the engine plays (+3.0).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead axb4, then Nd5 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 19. Qxc6 — queen to c6 (capture)
- axb4 — pawn to b4 (capture)
- 20. Nd5 — knight to d5
- Rxd5 — rook to d5 (capture)
- 21. Qxd5 — queen to d5 (capture)
- Bd6 — bishop to d6
- 22. axb4 — pawn to b4 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Remove the defender
Capture the guard first — then take what it protected.
Removing the defender is the straightforward plan: capture the guard first, then take what it guarded. Unlike deflection, the defender is not lured away — it is traded off or destroyed on the spot. Stare at the target you crave and ask who defends it, and whether that defender can be profitably eaten. Count the whole capture sequence, not just the first move — the trade must pay off at the end.
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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #834.
SP-834 · BastionScout — King off-centre on c or f with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and e1, the queen on g1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
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 BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 119.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 89 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +14 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #834Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-834
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