Winning blow: queen to f6 (d4·5)
c9-27904naming 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 1340 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 g1, queen d4, rook f2, bishop h5 g7, pawn a2 d2 g2 c3 e3 g5.
Black: king g8, queen c6, rook e4, bishop d5, knight c8, pawn b5 a6 f7.
11 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 31.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 3 points of material (26 against 23; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g1, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 31, with 39 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b, f.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
31. Qf6 Qxf6 32. Bxf6
Why it works
- Great move! queen to f6 keeps the pressure (+3.7).
- Spot on — bishop to f6 (+4.2).
- You reach a winning position (+4.2).
- If instead Qxf6, then Bxf6 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 31. Qf6 — queen to f6
- Qxf6 — queen to f6 (capture)
- 32. Bxf6 — bishop to f6 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Quiet move
No check, no capture — yet this modest move decides the game.
A quiet move gives no check and takes nothing — yet it decides the game by creating an unstoppable threat or stealing the king's last square. This is the hardest class of moves: the eye hunts for loud blows while a modest shift does the winning. The clue: every forcing try runs into a defense, so seek the move that strengthens the threat or takes squares away. Train yourself to ask: what if I neither capture nor check, but quietly improve?
Simplification
Trade the heavy pieces and steer into a won endgame.
Simplification is how you convert an advantage: by trading queens and rooks you extinguish the counterplay and steer the game into a won endgame. The rule is simple — the side with extra material trades pieces but keeps pawns. Look for exchanges once the material is already won and your opponent is still rattling threats. The mistake is avoiding the queen trade and letting him muddy the water forever.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #57.
SP-57 · RampartScout — Wing king plus a rim knight, and only 72 positions qualify — the rarest pattern of all.
The king starts on g1, the rooks on c1 and h1, the queen on f1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
The bishops stand on d1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a5 once the e- and d-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, b2.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 905.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Morozov Balance Index: 65 of 100 — class B — balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +22 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #57Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 010 · SP-57
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