Winning blow: queen to h8 (d4·3)
c9-27852naming 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 b2, queen d4, rook a1 e1, bishop f1, knight h6, pawn h2 b3 f3 g3 c4 a5.
Black: king f8, queen d6, rook e6 e8, bishop d7, knight c5, pawn d5 c6 g6 a7 b7 h7.
12 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 29.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 31 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on b2, the black king on f8.
It is White to move on move 29, with 52 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d.
The White king has 6 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
29. Qh8+ Ke7 30. Qg7+ Kd8 31. Nf7+ Kc7 32. Nxd6
Why it works
- Great move! queen to h8 keeps the pressure (+6.2).
- Spot on — queen to g7 (+6.2).
- Strong! knight to f7 is the sharp choice (+6.3).
- Great move! knight to d6 keeps the pressure (+6.6).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Ke7, then Qg7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 29. Qh8+ — queen to h8 with check
- Ke7 — king to e7
- 30. Qg7+ — queen to g7 with check
- Kd8 — king to d8
- 31. Nf7+ — knight to f7 with check
- Kc7 — king to c7
- 32. Nxd6 — knight to d6 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
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 #887.
SP-887 · ThroneGuard — King home on d or e, knights kept off the a- and h-files — the family of the standard starting array.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on a1 and e1, the queen on b1.
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: f2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 66.
The engine's main line opens with Nf3, bringing the knight out to f3.
Morozov Balance Index: 16 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +39 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #887Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-887
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