Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d5 (e4)
sf-u-0178naming 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 g1, queen e4, rook e1 d3, bishop b1 f4, pawn a2 b2 f2 g2 h4.
Black: king g8, queen e7, rook d5 h8, bishop b6, knight d4, pawn h5 e6 a7 b7 f7 g7.
11 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 20.
Solution & explanation
Main line
20. Qxd5 O-O 21. Rxd4 exd5 22. Rxe7
Why it works
- Great move! queen to d5 keeps the pressure (+5.3).
- Spot on — rook to d4 (+5.5).
- Strong! rook to e7 is the sharp choice (+5.7).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead exd5, then Rxe7 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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