Winning blow: knight to g5 (e6·2)
c9-27946naming 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 g1, queen b2, rook d1, bishop c1, knight d5 e6, pawn a2 e2 f2 c4.
Black: king f7, queen a8, rook h8, bishop f1 c7, knight e8, pawn d3 e5 d6 a7 g7 h7.
10 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 22.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (27 against 29; 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 f7.
It is White to move on move 22, with 50 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d, g, h.
Black 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
22. Ng5+ Kg8 23. Kxf1 h6 24. Ne4 Qd8 25. Rxd3
Why it works
- Great move! knight to g5 keeps the pressure (+4.6).
- Spot on — king to f1 (+4.7).
- A natural move: knight to e4.
- Best move. rook to d3 is exactly what the engine plays (+4.7).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Kg8, then Kxf1 and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 22. Ng5+ — knight to g5 with check
- Kg8 — king to g8
- 23. Kxf1 — king to f1 (capture)
- h6 — pawn to h6
- 24. Ne4 — knight to e4
- Qd8 — queen to d8
- 25. Rxd3 — rook to d3 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Winning blow
Find the strike that wins material by force.
A winning blow is a forced material gain that does not fit a single textbook motif. The general tactical recipe applies: spot loose pieces, an awkwardly placed king, overloaded lines. Go through the forcing moves in order of violence — checks, captures, threats — because most combinations start with one of them. Do not judge by feel: calculate the concrete line until the outcome is beyond doubt.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #580.
SP-580 · BastionScout — A knight on the a- or h-file, king on c or f — the mirror twin lands here as well.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on d1 and g1, the queen on a1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
The bishops stand on b1 and c1; their long diagonals reach h7 and h6 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 286.
The engine's main line opens with Ng3, bringing the knight out to g3.
Morozov Balance Index: 21 of 100 — class D — largest edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +36 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #580Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 008 · SP-580
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