Winning blow: queen to h8 (g7·3)
c9-27137naming 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 f1, queen g7, rook g1, bishop h2, pawn b2 d3 f3 a4.
Black: king e8, queen c8, rook h8, knight b3 b6, pawn h3 a5 f5 e6 b7.
8 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 28.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 4 points of material (21 against 25; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on f1, the black king on e8.
It is White to move on move 28, with 36 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: e, h.
The White king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
28. Qxh8+ Kd7 29. Rg7+ Kc6 30. Rc7+ Qxc7 31. Bxc7
Why it works
- Great move! queen to h8 keeps the pressure (+5.5).
- Well found: rook to g7 (+5.8).
- Precise: rook to c7 is the top choice (+6.1).
- Best move. bishop to c7 is exactly what the engine plays (+6.2).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kd7, then Rg7+ and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 28. Qxh8+ — queen to h8 (capture) with check
- Kd7 — king to d7
- 29. Rg7+ — rook to g7 with check
- Kc6 — king to c6
- 30. Rc7+ — rook to c7 with check
- Qxc7 — queen to c7 (capture)
- 31. Bxc7 — bishop to c7 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Winning blow
Find the strike that wins material by force.
A winning blow is a forced material gain that does not fit a single textbook motif. The general tactical recipe applies: spot loose pieces, an awkwardly placed king, overloaded lines. Go through the forcing moves in order of violence — checks, captures, threats — because most combinations start with one of them. Do not judge by feel: calculate the concrete line until the outcome is beyond doubt.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #46.
SP-46 · 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 c1.
The queenside rook already stands on d1, so castling long moves only the king, from e1 to c1.
The bishops stand on f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 916.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 75 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +19 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #46Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-46
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