Winning blow: rook to f7 (f3)
c9-26803naming 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.
A fork made possible by the Chess960 piece placement.
Winning tactic: there is a move that gains a decisive advantage — find it.
Difficulty 1290 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.
A set-up fork needs one preparing move before the fork lands — a check that drives the king onto the forking square, or a capture that lines the targets up. Find the preparation first, then the fork it makes possible.
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 f2, rook f1 f3, bishop h3, pawn a2 e4 h4 e5 g5.
Black: king g7, queen c7, rook c6 d8, knight d7, pawn c3 h5 g6 a7 b7.
10 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 31.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 27 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on g1, the black king on g7.
It is White to move on move 31, with 38 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, c.
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
31. Rf7+ Kh8 32. e6 Qb6 33. exd7
Why it works
- Great move! rook to f7 keeps the pressure (+6.4).
- pawn to e6 develops smoothly.
- Precise: pawn to d7 is the top choice (+6.1).
- You win a piece — the knight.
- If instead Kh8, then e6 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 31. Rf7+ — rook to f7 with check
- Kh8 — king to h8
- 32. e6 — pawn to e6
- Qb6 — queen to b6
- 33. exd7 — pawn to d7 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Setup fork
The random setup allows a fork that classical chess never sees.
A setup fork is a double attack that exists only because of the unusual starting squares — in classical chess these targets never stand side by side. Look for pairs of undefended pieces on your opponent's back rank and for squares from which a knight or pawn hits both at once. Such forks usually appear within the first moves, before the pieces disperse. In every new position, note right away which starting pieces are defended by no one.
Relative pin
A piece shields a more valuable one behind it — moving it loses material.
In a relative pin the piece shields not its king but something valuable behind it, usually the queen. Moving is legal but costly, because the piece behind falls. Look for three units on one line: your long-range piece, a cheaper enemy piece, and an expensive one hiding behind. Beware the classic trap — a relatively pinned piece can still move with check or a bigger threat, so verify before you cash in.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #56.
SP-56 · RampartScout — The king starts on b or g while a knight begins on the a- or h-file — the smallest family.
The king starts on g1, the rooks on d1 and h1, the queen on f1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: b2.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 909.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 9 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +44 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #56Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 009 · SP-56
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