Winning blow: knight to a6 (c5·3)
c9-27695naming 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 c1, queen f4, rook f1 a4, bishop g1, knight c5, pawn c2 d2 c3 g3 h3 b7.
Black: king b8, queen f6, rook e2 d8, knight c6 d7, pawn d5 f5 a7 c7 h7.
12 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 24.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (31 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 c1, the black king on b8.
It is White to move on move 24, with 47 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, f.
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
24. Na6+ Kxb7 25. Qxc7+ Ka8 26. Nb4 Re1+ 27. Rxe1
Why it works
- Great move! knight to a6 keeps the pressure (#7).
- Well found: queen to c7 (#6).
- A natural move: knight to b4.
- Great move! rook to e1 keeps the pressure (#4).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Kxb7, then Qxc7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 24. Na6+ — knight to a6 with check
- Kxb7 — king to b7 (capture)
- 25. Qxc7+ — queen to c7 (capture) with check
- Ka8 — king to a8
- 26. Nb4 — knight to b4
- Re1+ — rook to e1 with check
- 27. Rxe1 — rook to e1 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Absolute pin
A piece is pinned against its king — it cannot legally move.
An absolute pin freezes a piece on the line between its own king and your long-range attacker: moving it is simply illegal. The pattern is three units on one straight line — your bishop, rook or queen, an enemy piece, and the enemy king behind it. A pinned piece neither attacks nor defends anything: treat it as if it were off the board. Pile up on it, ideally with a pawn, because running away is against the rules.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #287.
SP-287 · BastionScout — King shifted to c or f, with a knight committed to the corner from move one.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and e1, the queen on f1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
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 BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 576.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 97 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +7 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #287Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-287
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