Winning blow: bishop to h7 (g6·3)
c9-27209naming 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 g1, queen f5, rook e1, bishop d4 g6, knight f1, pawn a2 d2 e2 f2 g2 c3 b4 h5.
Black: king g8, queen c8, rook e8, bishop a8 b8, knight f4 e5, pawn h4 b5 c5 a7 e7.
14 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 16.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 31 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on g1, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 16, with 41 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 8 pawns, Black 5. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in.
The White king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
16. Bh7+ Kh8 17. Bxe5+ Bxe5 18. Qxe5+ Kxh7 19. Qxf4
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to h7 keeps the pressure (+4.3).
- Well found: bishop to e5 (+4.3).
- Strong! queen to e5 is the sharp choice (+4.6).
- Great move! queen to f4 keeps the pressure (+4.5).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Kh8, then Bxe5+ and you win the knight.
Move by move
- 16. Bh7+ — bishop to h7 with check
- Kh8 — king to h8
- 17. Bxe5+ — bishop to e5 (capture) with check
- Bxe5 — bishop to e5 (capture)
- 18. Qxe5+ — queen to e5 (capture) with check
- Kxh7 — king to h7 (capture)
- 19. Qxf4 — queen to f4 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
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.
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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #96.
SP-96 · RampartGuard — King on the wing (b/g) with both knights on inner files.
The king starts on g1, the rooks on e1 and h1, the queen on c1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The pawn on g2 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 863.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 47 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +27 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #96Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-96
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