Winning blow: rook to f7 (f8·4)
c9-27245naming 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 g1, queen d1, rook f8, pawn b2 g2 h3 e4 a6.
Black: king a7, queen d7, rook f7, knight e7, pawn b4 c5 e5 b6 d6 h6.
8 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 35.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 4 points of material (19 against 23; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g1, the black king on a7.
It is White to move on move 35, with 31 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, d.
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
35. Rxf7 c4 36. Qf1 Qc7 37. Qf6 Kxa6 38. Rxe7
Why it works
- Great move! rook to f7 keeps the pressure (+3.2).
- queen to f1 develops smoothly.
- A natural move: queen to f6.
- Best move. rook to e7 is exactly what the engine plays (+3.8).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead c4, then Qf1 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 35. Rxf7 — rook to f7 (capture)
- c4 — pawn to c4
- 36. Qf1 — queen to f1
- Qc7 — queen to c7
- 37. Qf6 — queen to f6
- Kxa6 — king to a6 (capture)
- 38. Rxe7 — rook to e7 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Relative pin
A piece shields a more valuable one behind it — moving it loses material.
In a relative pin the piece shields not its king but something valuable behind it, usually the queen. Moving is legal but costly, because the piece behind falls. Look for three units on one line: your long-range piece, a cheaper enemy piece, and an expensive one hiding behind. Beware the classic trap — a relatively pinned piece can still move with check or a bigger threat, so verify before you cash in.
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.
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 #710.
SP-710 · RampartGuard — A b- or g-file king and two knights on inner files (b–g).
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on d1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: f2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 438.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 21 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +36 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #710Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-710
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads