Winning blow: rook to c7 (g7·4)
c9-27575naming 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 c1, rook h1 g7, bishop f3 a5, knight b1, pawn b2 c2 f2 g2 h2 e3.
Black: king c8, queen d3, rook b8 h8, bishop f6 e8, knight g8, pawn b5 f5 c6 h7.
12 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 18.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 7 points of material (25 against 32; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on c1, the black king on c8.
It is White to move on move 18, with 43 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, d — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
The White king has 0 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
18. Rc7+ Kd8 19. Rxh7+ Kc8 20. Rc7+ Kd8 21. cxd3
Why it works
- Great move! rook to c7 keeps the pressure (+4.9).
- Spot on — rook to h7 (+4.8).
- Strong! rook to c7 is the sharp choice (+5.0).
- Best move. pawn to d3 is exactly what the engine plays (+5.0).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kd8, then Rxh7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 18. Rc7+ — rook to c7 with check
- Kd8 — king to d8
- 19. Rxh7+ — rook to h7 (capture) with check
- Kc8 — king to c8
- 20. Rc7+ — rook to c7 with check
- Kd8 — king to d8
- 21. cxd3 — pawn to d3 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Discovered check
The moving piece opens a check — and is free to grab anything meanwhile.
With a discovered check the moving piece unmasks a check from the piece standing behind it. While the king deals with the check, the piece that moved grabs whatever it likes, free of charge. Look for your long-range piece on a line with the enemy king, with exactly one of your own pieces in between. The rule: among all the ways to step aside, pick the one that captures or attacks the most expensive loot.
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.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #537.
SP-537 · BastionGuard — King shifted to c or f, knights kept clear of the edges — 168 positions in all.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on f1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
The bishops stand on d1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a5 once the e- and d-pawns step aside.
The pawn on b2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 521.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 34 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +31 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #537Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-537
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