Winning blow: rook to h2 (g2·3)
c9-27116naming 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 1390 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 b3, rook g2, pawn c3 a4 h6.
Black: king f6, rook f5, pawn a5 e5 b6 d6 b7.
5 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 38.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (8 against 10; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b3, the black king on f6.
It is White to move on move 38, with 21 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): f, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, d, e.
The White king has 5 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
38. Rh2 Ke7 39. h7 Rf8 40. h8=Q Rxh8 41. Rxh8
Why it works
- Great move! rook to h2 keeps the pressure (+5.0).
- Well found: pawn to h7 (+4.7).
- A natural move: pawn to h8.
- Great move! rook to h8 keeps the pressure (+5.3).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Ke7, then h7 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 38. Rh2 — rook to h2
- Ke7 — king to e7
- 39. h7 — pawn to h7
- Rf8 — rook to f8
- 40. h8=Q — pawn to h8
- Rxh8 — rook to h8 (capture)
- 41. Rxh8 — rook to h8 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Clearance
Clear your own piece out of the way — with tempo — for the decisive blow.
Clearance is about your own piece standing in the way of the decisive blow — so you move it aside, or even throw it away. The key is to clear with tempo: jump off with a check, a capture or a threat, giving the opponent no time to regroup. The telltale sign: you see a crushing queen or rook move, but one of your own pieces blocks the line or occupies the square. Do not cling to it — a clearance sacrifice usually costs less than a missed attack.
Promotion race
Both sides push passers — win the race by a tempo.
A promotion race is a sprint between two passed pawns: both sides push toward the last rank, and victory goes to whoever queens first or queens with check. You will recognize it when both players have far-advanced passers that neither king can catch. Count the tempi literally, move by move, all the way to promotion. The classic mistake is spending a tempo on a "useful" move — in a race, almost any non-pawn move loses.
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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #763.
SP-763 · RampartGuard — The king starts out on a wing file, b or g, with neither knight in a corner.
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and f1, the queen on g1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
The pawn on c2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 385.
The engine's main line opens with g4.
Morozov Balance Index: 69 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +21 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #763Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 010 · SP-763
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