Winning blow: queen to b5 (f5)
c9-27064naming 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 c4, queen f5, rook e2, knight f2, pawn b2 h2 a3.
Black: king b8, queen f1, rook g2, bishop c7, pawn h5 a7 h7.
7 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 34.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 20 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on c4, the black king on b8.
It is White to move on move 34, with 42 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d, e, f, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
The White king has 8 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
34. Qb5+ Bb6 35. Kb3 Qxe2 36. Qxe2 Rxf2 37. Qxh5
Why it works
- Great move! queen to b5 keeps the pressure (+4.4).
- king to b3 develops smoothly.
- Strong! queen to e2 is the sharp choice (+4.3).
- Best move. queen to h5 is exactly what the engine plays (+4.5).
- You reach a winning position (+4.5).
- If instead Bb6, then Kb3 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 34. Qb5+ — queen to b5 with check
- Bb6 — bishop to b6
- 35. Kb3 — king to b3
- Qxe2 — queen to e2 (capture)
- 36. Qxe2 — queen to e2 (capture)
- Rxf2 — rook to f2 (capture)
- 37. Qxh5 — queen to h5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Remove the defender
Capture the guard first — then take what it protected.
Removing the defender is the straightforward plan: capture the guard first, then take what it guarded. Unlike deflection, the defender is not lured away — it is traded off or destroyed on the spot. Stare at the target you crave and ask who defends it, and whether that defender can be profitably eaten. Count the whole capture sequence, not just the first move — the trade must pay off at the end.
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 #244.
SP-244 · ThroneScout — A knight starts on the edge (a/h) and the king sits centrally on d or e; the mirror twin stays in this family too.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on d1 and h1, the queen on f1.
The queenside rook already stands on d1, so castling long moves only the king, from e1 to c1.
The bishops stand on b1 and c1; their long diagonals reach h7 and h6 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 622.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 28 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +33 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #244Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-244
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