Winning blow: knight to f6 (d5·13)
c9-28010naming 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 1700 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
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 c2, queen a2, bishop c3, knight b4 d5, pawn b2 e2 h2 f3 g4 f7.
Black: king d7, queen f2, rook b8 d8, pawn d6 g6 h6 c7.
11 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 27.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (24 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 c2, the black king on d7.
It is White to move on move 27, with 41 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, 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
27. Nf6+ Kc8 28. Qa6+ Rb7 29. Nc6 Qxe2+ 30. Qxe2
Why it works
- Great move! knight to f6 keeps the pressure (#10).
- Well found: queen to a6 (#8).
- A natural move: knight to c6.
- Great move! queen to e2 keeps the pressure (#6).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kc8, then Qa6+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 27. Nf6+ — knight to f6 with check
- Kc8 — king to c8
- 28. Qa6+ — queen to a6 with check
- Rb7 — rook to b7
- 29. Nc6 — knight to c6
- Qxe2+ — queen to e2 (capture) with check
- 30. Qxe2 — queen to e2 (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 #875.
SP-875 · BastionGuard — Off-centre king (c/f), no knight on the a- or h-file.
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and d1, the queen on a1.
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.
The pawn on c2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 81.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Morozov Balance Index: 28 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +33 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #875Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 013 · SP-875
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