Winning blow: queen to a5 (d2)
c9-28247naming 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 1560 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 b1, queen d2, rook d1 b3, bishop d5, knight h1, pawn b2 f2 h2 a4 e4.
Black: king a7, queen d6, rook g2 f8, bishop e5 c8, knight f6, pawn a5 c7 g7 h7.
11 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 24.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (30 against 32; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b1, the black king on a7.
It is White to move on move 24, with 45 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): d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, g.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
24. Qxa5+ Qa6 25. Qc5+ Qb6 26. Rxb6
Why it works
- Great move! queen to a5 keeps the pressure (+7.2).
- Well found: queen to c5 (+7.7).
- Strong! rook to b6 is the sharp choice (+8.2).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qa6, then Qc5+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 24. Qxa5+ — queen to a5 (capture) with check
- Qa6 — queen to a6
- 25. Qc5+ — queen to c5 with check
- Qb6 — queen to b6
- 26. Rxb6 — rook to b6 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
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.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #806.
SP-806 · RampartScout — The king starts on b or g while a knight begins on the a- or h-file — the smallest family.
The king starts on b1, the rooks on a1 and g1, the queen on d1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 150.
The engine's main line opens with a4.
Morozov Balance Index: 47 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +27 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #806Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 011 · SP-806
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