Winning blow: queen to h7 (g7·2)
c9-26799naming 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 1420 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 h2, queen g7, rook f1, bishop h5 f6, knight b1, pawn a2 d2 g2 b3 g3 c4.
Black: king e8, queen f8, rook c8, knight g6 b8, pawn e5 b6 a7 c7 d7 h7.
12 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 20.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 3 points of material (29 against 26; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on h2, the black king on e8.
It is White to move on move 20, 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): f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: e, h.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
20. Qxh7 Qxf6 21. Rxf6
Why it works
- Great move! queen to h7 keeps the pressure (#5).
- Well found: rook to f6 (#4).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qxf6, then Rxf6 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 20. Qxh7 — queen to h7 (capture)
- Qxf6 — queen to f6 (capture)
- 21. Rxf6 — rook to f6 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Winning blow
Find the strike that wins material by force.
A winning blow is a forced material gain that does not fit a single textbook motif. The general tactical recipe applies: spot loose pieces, an awkwardly placed king, overloaded lines. Go through the forcing moves in order of violence — checks, captures, threats — because most combinations start with one of them. Do not judge by feel: calculate the concrete line until the outcome is beyond doubt.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #301.
SP-301 · ThroneScout — A central king (d or e), but with a knight posted out on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on c1 and f1, the queen on a1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
The bishops stand on d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: g2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 376.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 94 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +10 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #301Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 010 · SP-301
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