Winning blow: pawn to f7 (f6·8)
c9-27075naming 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 e1, queen e3, rook a1 f1, knight g4, pawn a3 g3 h3 b4 c4 f6.
Black: king g8, queen c2, rook d3 b8, bishop a8, pawn e5 b6 g6 a7 h7.
11 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 29.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (28 against 27; 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 g8.
It is White to move on move 29, with 34 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: e.
The White king has 0 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
29. f7+ Kf8 30. Qh6+ Ke7 31. f8=Q+ Rxf8 32. Qxf8+
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to f7 keeps the pressure (#5).
- Well found: queen to h6 (#4).
- Precise: pawn to f8 is the top choice (#3).
- Great move! queen to f8 keeps the pressure (#2).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Kf8, then Qh6+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 29. f7+ — pawn to f7 with check
- Kf8 — king to f8
- 30. Qh6+ — queen to h6 with check
- Ke7 — king to e7
- 31. f8=Q+ — pawn to f8 with check
- Rxf8 — rook to f8 (capture)
- 32. Qxf8+ — queen to f8 (capture) with check
Types in this puzzle
Promotion
The pawn reaches the last rank and becomes a queen — decisively.
Promotion turns a pawn on the last rank into a queen and rewrites the evaluation on the spot. In tactics the passer rarely walks in for free — usually a sacrifice clears its path. Count the tempi: how many moves does the pawn need, and can the defender stop it in time? And watch the promotion square itself — it must be out of enemy reach or won by force in your combination.
Check chase
Every move is a check — the king is chased into losing ground.
In a check chase every one of your moves is a check, so the opponent never gets a free second. The king is herded across the board until it loses a piece or walks into a decisive blow. Such lines are the easiest to calculate: each check allows only a handful of replies, so try them all. Make it a habit to start calculating any sharp position with the checks — they are the most forcing moves on the board.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #498.
SP-498 · ThroneGuard — King on a central file (d/e) with both knights on inner files — the classic-type setup.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on b1 and h1, the queen on c1.
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.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 551.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 91 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +13 centipawns for White (depth 49, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #498Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-498
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads