Winning blow: rook to a6 (e6)
c9-27160naming 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 1430 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 b2, rook a1 e6, bishop g1 h3, knight d2, pawn b3 g3 a4 c4 d4 f4 h4.
Black: king d7, rook a8 d8, bishop h7 f8, knight e7 c8, pawn a5 c5 d5 h5 f6 c7 g7.
13 white and 14 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 22.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 3 points of material (26 against 29; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b2, the black king on d7.
It is White to move on move 22, with 38 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 7. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
The White king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
22. Ra6+ Bf5 23. Bxf5+ Nxf5 24. Rxa8 cxd4 25. Rxa5
Why it works
- Brilliant! The rook on a6 is a sacrifice that works — you stand better (+2.5).
- A brilliant blow: bishop to f5, and you stand better (+2.6).
- Strong! rook to a8 is the sharp choice (+2.5).
- Best move. rook to a5 is exactly what the engine plays (+2.8).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Bf5, then Bxf5+ and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 22. Ra6+ — rook to a6 with check
- Bf5 — bishop to f5
- 23. Bxf5+ — bishop to f5 (capture) with check
- Nxf5 — knight to f5 (capture)
- 24. Rxa8 — rook to a8 (capture)
- cxd4 — pawn to d4 (capture)
- 25. Rxa5 — rook to a5 (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.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
Discovered check
The moving piece opens a check — and is free to grab anything meanwhile.
With a discovered check the moving piece unmasks a check from the piece standing behind it. While the king deals with the check, the piece that moved grabs whatever it likes, free of charge. Look for your long-range piece on a line with the enemy king, with exactly one of your own pieces in between. The rule: among all the ways to step aside, pick the one that captures or attacks the most expensive loot.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #654.
SP-654 · BastionScout — King off-centre on c or f with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
The king starts on c1, the rooks on a1 and d1, the queen on e1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
The bishops stand on f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
The pawn on b2, c2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 212.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 36 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +34 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
In 50 self-play games White scored 53.0% (95% CI 39.5–66.1%).
Explore position #654Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-654
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