Winning blow: bishop to c6 (g2·4)
c9-27495naming 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 e1, rook c1 h1, bishop g2 a5, pawn e2 f2 d3 g3 h4 b7.
Black: king e6, queen b8, rook c6, knight f4 d6, pawn c5 e5 h5 f6 a7 g7.
11 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 28.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 4 points of material (22 against 26; 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 e6.
It is White to move on move 28, with 32 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 6. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: a, c.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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. Bxc6 Nd5 29. Rb1 Ne7 30. Bc7 Qxc7 31. b8=Q
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to c6 keeps the pressure (+3.2).
- rook to b1 develops smoothly.
- A natural move: bishop to c7.
- Sensible development: pawn to b8.
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Nd5, then Rb1 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 28. Bxc6 — bishop to c6 (capture)
- Nd5 — knight to d5
- 29. Rb1 — rook to b1
- Ne7 — knight to e7
- 30. Bc7 — bishop to c7
- Qxc7 — queen to c7 (capture)
- 31. b8=Q — pawn to b8
Types in this puzzle
Decoy
A sacrifice lures the king or a piece onto a fatal square.
A decoy is the mirror image of deflection: you sacrifice to drag the king or a piece onto a fatal square. The classic is a queen or rook sac whose capture pulls the king into a knight fork, a discovered check or mate. Find the square where the target will be hit, then find the offer it cannot refuse. Calculate to the very end — a decoy only works when the follow-up is forced.
Promotion
The pawn reaches the last rank and becomes a queen — decisively.
Promotion turns a pawn on the last rank into a queen and rewrites the evaluation on the spot. In tactics the passer rarely walks in for free — usually a sacrifice clears its path. Count the tempi: how many moves does the pawn need, and can the defender stop it in time? And watch the promotion square itself — it must be out of enemy reach or won by force in your combination.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #218.
SP-218 · ThroneScout — The king starts on d or e while at least one knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and h1, the queen on b1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
The bishops stand on e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 645.
The engine's main line opens with d3.
Morozov Balance Index: 75 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +19 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #218Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-218
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