Winning blow: queen to h7 (b1·3)
c9-26936naming 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 1700 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
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 e1, queen b1, rook d1, bishop e2 f2, knight f1, pawn b2 c3 h5.
Black: king e7, queen a8, rook b8 f8, knight c7, pawn a3 a5 c6 f6 h6 d7.
9 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 24.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (26 against 28; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on e1, the black king on e7.
It is White to move on move 24, with 39 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, d, f.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
24. Qh7+ Rf7 25. Bc5+ Kd8 26. Qg8+ Ne8 27. Qxf7
Why it works
- Great move! queen to h7 keeps the pressure (#8).
- Well found: bishop to c5 (#7).
- Precise: queen to g8 is the top choice (#6).
- Great move! queen to f7 keeps the pressure (#5).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Rf7, then Bc5+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 24. Qh7+ — queen to h7 with check
- Rf7 — rook to f7
- 25. Bc5+ — bishop to c5 with check
- Kd8 — king to d8
- 26. Qg8+ — queen to g8 with check
- Ne8 — knight to e8
- 27. Qxf7 — queen to f7 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
Absolute pin
A piece is pinned against its king — it cannot legally move.
An absolute pin freezes a piece on the line between its own king and your long-range attacker: moving it is simply illegal. The pattern is three units on one straight line — your bishop, rook or queen, an enemy piece, and the enemy king behind it. A pinned piece neither attacks nor defends anything: treat it as if it were off the board. Pile up on it, ideally with a pawn, because running away is against the rules.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #493.
SP-493 · ThroneGuard — A central king (d or e) and two knights tucked onto inner files: the family that holds the standard array, SP-518.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on b1 and h1, the queen on a1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
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 ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 568.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 5 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +49 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #493Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 013 · SP-493
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