Winning blow: rook to d1 (f1·4)
c9-26691naming 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 g1, queen c1, rook f1, bishop a1 c4, knight b1 g5, pawn a2 f2 g2 b3 h3 e4.
Black: king g8, queen g6, rook d1 h6, bishop a8 f8, knight c6 e8, pawn h4 c5 b6 a7 f7 g7.
13 white and 14 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 14.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 5 points of material (32 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 g1, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 14, 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): d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c.
The White king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
14. Rxd1 Nd6 15. Rxd6 Bxd6 16. Bxf7+ Qxf7 17. Nxf7
Why it works
- Great move! rook to d1 keeps the pressure (+4.5).
- Well found: rook to d6 (+4.5).
- Strong! bishop to f7 is the sharp choice (+4.5).
- Great move! knight to f7 keeps the pressure (+4.5).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Nd6, then Rxd6 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 14. Rxd1 — rook to d1 (capture)
- Nd6 — knight to d6
- 15. Rxd6 — rook to d6 (capture)
- Bxd6 — bishop to d6 (capture)
- 16. Bxf7+ — bishop to f7 (capture) with check
- Qxf7 — queen to f7 (capture)
- 17. Nxf7 — knight to f7 (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.
Counter-strike
Don't defend — answer the threat with a bigger one.
The counter-strike: instead of defending against the threat, you answer with a bigger threat of your own. While your opponent grabs a pawn, you deliver mate — the arithmetic favors you. Look for a counter when direct defenses fail: do you have a check, an attack on the queen, a mating threat? The beginner's error is meeting every threat with a reflexive defense without checking the counterattacking resources first.
Discovered attack
A piece steps aside and opens a second attack from the piece behind it.
A discovered attack works like a curtain: one piece steps off the line and unveils the long-range piece behind it. The beauty is that the moving piece can create a second threat of its own — two attacks in one move. Look for your stacked pairs: a bishop or rook behind a knight or pawn, aimed through them at something valuable. Send the front piece to the most aggressive square — a discovery without a second threat wastes half its power.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #114.
SP-114 · RampartGuard — King on the wing (b/g) with both knights on inner files.
The king starts on g1, the rooks on d1 and h1, the queen on c1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
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 RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 839.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 93 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +11 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #114Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-114
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