Winning blow: rook to d7 (d1·19)
c9-27478naming 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 e1, queen f5, rook d1 h1, knight g4, pawn b2 h2 a3 g3.
Black: king c7, queen h3, rook a8 h8, knight c6, pawn b5 a6 h7.
9 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 28.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (26 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 e1, the black king on c7.
It is White to move on move 28, with 45 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d, e, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
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. Rd7+ Kb6 29. Qf2+ Ka5 30. b4+ Nxb4 31. axb4+
Why it works
- Great move! rook to d7 keeps the pressure (#8).
- Well found: queen to f2 (#7).
- Precise: pawn to b4 is the top choice (#6).
- Great move! pawn to b4 keeps the pressure (#5).
- You win decisive material (+15.0).
- If instead Kb6, then Qf2+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 28. Rd7+ — rook to d7 with check
- Kb6 — king to b6
- 29. Qf2+ — queen to f2 with check
- Ka5 — king to a5
- 30. b4+ — pawn to b4 with check
- Nxb4 — knight to b4 (capture)
- 31. axb4+ — pawn to b4 (capture) with check
Types in this puzzle
Check chase
Every move is a check — the king is chased into losing ground.
In a check chase every one of your moves is a check, so the opponent never gets a free second. The king is herded across the board until it loses a piece or walks into a decisive blow. Such lines are the easiest to calculate: each check allows only a handful of replies, so try them all. Make it a habit to start calculating any sharp position with the checks — they are the most forcing moves on the board.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #518.
SP-518 · ThroneGuard — The king starts in the middle of the back rank, on d or e, and neither knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on e1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on d1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
The bishops stand on c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
The pawn on f2 is defended by the king alone — the classic soft spot of the standard setup.
This is the classical starting position, number 518 of the 960, in the ThroneGuard family; its mirror is position 534.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 93 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +11 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #518Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-518
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