Winning blow: rook to b4 (b1·2)
c9-27007naming 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 1560 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 c1, rook b1 f1, bishop h1 a7, knight d1 f3, pawn e2 h2 d3 g3 c4 f4.
Black: king b7, rook b4 f6, bishop g8 h8, knight c7 d8, pawn c5 f5 d6 g6 e7 h7.
13 white and 13 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 14.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 28 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on c1, the black king on b7.
It is White to move on move 14, with 30 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): a, b — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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. Rxb4+ cxb4 15. Bd4 Nc6 16. Bxf6
Why it works
- Brilliant! The rook on b4 is a sacrifice that works — you stand better (+2.7).
- Well found: bishop to d4 (+3.0).
- Stunning! bishop to f6 gives up material but you stand better (+2.9).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead cxb4, then Bd4 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 14. Rxb4+ — rook to b4 (capture) with check
- cxb4 — pawn to b4 (capture)
- 15. Bd4 — bishop to d4
- Nc6 — knight to c6
- 16. Bxf6 — bishop to f6 (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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #687.
SP-687 · BastionGuard — King shifted to c or f, knights kept clear of the edges — 168 positions in all.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on a1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: e2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 464.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 21 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +36 centipawns for White (depth 42, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #687Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-687
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