Winning blow: rook to g8 (g5·6)
c9-28001naming 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.
A fork made possible by the Chess960 piece placement.
Winning tactic: there is a move that gains a decisive advantage — find it.
Difficulty 1430 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.
A set-up fork needs one preparing move before the fork lands — a check that drives the king onto the forking square, or a capture that lines the targets up. Find the preparation first, then the fork it makes possible.
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 e2, queen h5, rook c1 g5, bishop f3, knight b1, pawn a2 d2 f2 b3 e3.
Black: king f8, queen h8, rook h6, bishop h3 e7, knight b4, pawn d4 c5 b6 a7.
11 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 26.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 3 points of material (30 against 27; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on e2, the black king on f8.
It is White to move on move 26, with 44 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): g, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
26. Rg8+ Kxg8 27. Qe8+ Bf8 28. Rg1+ Qg7 29. Rxg7+
Why it works
- Great move! rook to g8 keeps the pressure (+4.0).
- Well found: queen to e8 (+4.2).
- Strong! rook to g1 is the sharp choice (+4.2).
- Great move! rook to g7 keeps the pressure (+4.4).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kxg8, then Qe8+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 26. Rg8+ — rook to g8 with check
- Kxg8 — king to g8 (capture)
- 27. Qe8+ — queen to e8 with check
- Bf8 — bishop to f8
- 28. Rg1+ — rook to g1 with check
- Qg7 — queen to g7
- 29. Rxg7+ — rook to g7 (capture) with check
Types in this puzzle
Setup fork
The random setup allows a fork that classical chess never sees.
A setup fork is a double attack that exists only because of the unusual starting squares — in classical chess these targets never stand side by side. Look for pairs of undefended pieces on your opponent's back rank and for squares from which a knight or pawn hits both at once. Such forks usually appear within the first moves, before the pieces disperse. In every new position, note right away which starting pieces are defended by no one.
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.
Win the pinned piece
The pinned piece cannot run — attack it again and win it.
A pinned piece cannot flee, which means you can win it outright by attacking it one more time. Count attackers against defenders: if you outnumber them, the piece is yours. The best extra attacker is a pawn, since it costs less than anything it might capture. Do not rush the capture — build up the pressure first, then harvest.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #161.
SP-161 · BastionGuard — Off-centre king (c/f), no knight on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on f1, the rooks on c1 and h1, the queen on g1.
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 a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 795.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Morozov Balance Index: 97 of 100 — class A — most balanced. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +6 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #161Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-161
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