Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e4 (g5·5)
sf-u-0128naming tag (square·N)The tactical motive
Uncastled king: the enemy king is stuck in the centre — punish it before it castles.
Winning tactic: there is a move that gains a decisive advantage — find it.
Chess960 twist: use the unusual starting setup of the pieces.
Difficulty 1010 ShuffleRating — club-player level.
White to move — find the best continuation
Position on the board
White: king d1, queen d3, rook b1 f1, bishop h3, knight e1 g5, pawn a2 c2 d2 h2 g3 b4.
Black: king d8, queen d7, rook f5 b8, bishop d5 h8, knight e8, pawn e4 b6 g6 a7 c7.
13 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 16.
Solution & explanation
Main line
16. Nxe4 O-O-O 17. Nc3 Bxc3 18. Qxc3
Why it works
- Great move! knight to e4 keeps the pressure (+2.7).
- knight to c3 develops smoothly.
- Precise: queen to c3 is the top choice (+2.8).
- You reach a winning position (+2.8).
- If instead Bxa2, then Qxd7+ and you win the queen.
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.
Uncastled king
The king lingered in the middle — punish the delay.
Punishing the uncastled king: your opponent delayed castling, and now his king is stuck on its starting square under fire. In Chess960 this is deadlier than in classical chess — the king may start in the center or near the edge, and the familiar defensive setups simply do not apply. The signs: the victim still holds castling rights, and the files toward his king are half-open. Open lines before the king manages to hide.
Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 006
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