Winning blow: queen to e1 (g1)
c9-27527naming 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 b1, queen g1, rook c1, bishop b2, knight b6, pawn a2 h2 b3 d4 c5.
Black: king a7, queen d7, rook e1 d8, bishop f8, knight g6, pawn f5 c6 b7 g7 h7.
10 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 29.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 5 points of material (25 against 30; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b1, the black king on a7.
It is White to move on move 29, with 29 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: f, g.
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
29. Qxe1 Qe7 30. Qa5+ Kb8 31. Re1 Qxe1+ 32. Qxe1
Why it works
- Great move! queen to e1 keeps the pressure (+4.8).
- Well found: queen to a5 (+5.0).
- A natural move: rook to e1.
- Great move! queen to e1 keeps the pressure (+5.5).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qe7, then Qa5+ and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 29. Qxe1 — queen to e1 (capture)
- Qe7 — queen to e7
- 30. Qa5+ — queen to a5 with check
- Kb8 — king to b8
- 31. Re1 — rook to e1
- Qxe1+ — queen to e1 (capture) with check
- 32. Qxe1 — queen to e1 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Winning exchange
A forced series of captures on one square ends in your favour.
A winning exchange is a forced series of captures on one square that leaves you ahead in material. It is pure arithmetic: count the attackers and defenders of the square and note the value of every piece in the queue. Capture in the right order — cheap pieces first, expensive ones later — or a winning trade turns into a losing one. The classic error is stopping the count halfway and missing the opponent's final recapture.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #358.
SP-358 · ThroneScout — A knight starts on the edge (a/h) and the king sits centrally on d or e; the mirror twin stays in this family too.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on b1 and e1, the queen on g1.
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.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 310.
The engine's main line opens with f3.
Morozov Balance Index: 7 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +46 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #358Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-358
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