Winning blow: queen to a8 (a5·6)
c9-27226naming 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 1560 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 c2, queen a5, rook g1, pawn d3 e3 h3 f4.
Black: king c8, queen h8, knight e8, pawn a3 c4 f5 d6 d7 h7.
7 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 29.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 18 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on c2, the black king on c8.
It is White to move on move 29, with 39 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, c.
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
29. Qa8+ Kc7 30. Rb1 Qb2+ 31. Rxb2
Why it works
- Best move. queen to a8 is exactly what the engine plays (+6.8).
- rook to b1 develops smoothly.
- Strong! rook to b2 is the sharp choice (+8.2).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kc7, then Rb1 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 29. Qa8+ — queen to a8 with check
- Kc7 — king to c7
- 30. Rb1 — rook to b1
- Qb2+ — queen to b2 with check
- 31. Rxb2 — rook to b2 (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 #931.
SP-931 · BastionGuard — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, with neither knight in a corner.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and d1, the queen on f1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 19.
The engine's main line opens with g4.
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 #931Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-931
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads