Winning blow: pawn to c4 (d3·6)
c9-27692naming 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 d1, queen g7, rook b1 g1, bishop h1, knight e4, pawn a2 e2 f2 h2 b3 d3 g4.
Black: king e6, queen a5, rook b8 h8, bishop h3, knight d7, pawn c4 d4 e5 d6 f6 g6 h7.
13 white and 13 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 23.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 32 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on d1, the black king on e6.
It is White to move on move 23, with 38 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 7. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: c.
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
23. dxc4 Rhf8 24. Ng5+ fxg5 25. Bd5+ Qxd5 26. cxd5+
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to c4 keeps the pressure (+5.1).
- Spot on — knight to g5 (+5.4).
- Strong! bishop to d5 is the sharp choice (+5.9).
- Great move! pawn to d5 keeps the pressure (+5.8).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Rhf8, then Ng5+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 23. dxc4 — pawn to c4 (capture)
- Rhf8 — rook to f8
- 24. Ng5+ — knight to g5 with check
- fxg5 — pawn to g5 (capture)
- 25. Bd5+ — bishop to d5 with check
- Qxd5 — queen to d5 (capture)
- 26. cxd5+ — pawn to d5 (capture) with check
Types in this puzzle
Sacrifice attack
Give up material to unleash a decisive attack.
A sacrificial attack gives up material on purpose to rip the king's shelter open and launch a decisive assault. The sac is sound when you get concrete assets in return: open lines to the king, tempi, pieces ready to pour in. The signs: a poorly sheltered king, your forces aimed at its home, defenders stranded far away. The iron rule is to calculate, not hope — once the material is gone, there is no way back.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #247.
SP-247 · ThroneScout — A central king (d or e), but with a knight posted out on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on b1 and g1, the queen on e1.
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.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
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 610.
The engine's main line opens with g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 78 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +18 centipawns for White (depth 49, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #247Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-247
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