diff --git a/arche-core/src/engine.rs b/arche-core/src/engine.rs
index 0aab6085..37ce7005 100644
--- a/arche-core/src/engine.rs
+++ b/arche-core/src/engine.rs
@@ -1405,7 +1405,9 @@ impl AlphaBeta {
 
     /// A node decision just taken, the margin's or the pass's, offered to
     /// the forced decision instrument. True when it is the decision being
-    /// inverted, which the caller then does not take.
+    /// inverted, which the caller then does not take. `gap` is how far the
+    /// decision's bound cleared beta: the margin's floor or the pass's
+    /// score, less beta.
     // cold and out of line behind a bare is_some, for `sample`'s reason
     #[cold]
     #[inline(never)]
@@ -1416,6 +1418,7 @@ impl AlphaBeta {
         eval: Score,
         alpha: Score,
         beta: Score,
+        gap: i32,
     ) -> bool {
         let address = forced::Address {
             kind,
@@ -1436,6 +1439,7 @@ impl AlphaBeta {
             features: None,
             eval_beta: i32::from(eval) - i32::from(beta),
             alpha_gap: i32::from(alpha) - i32::from(eval),
+            gap: Some(gap),
             fen: board.to_fen(),
         });
         false
@@ -1495,6 +1499,7 @@ impl AlphaBeta {
                 features: Some(features),
                 eval_beta: eval_beta as i32,
                 alpha_gap: alpha_gap as i32,
+                gap: None,
                 fen: board.to_fen(),
             }
         });
@@ -1505,7 +1510,8 @@ impl AlphaBeta {
     /// forced decision instrument before it answers for its move. True when
     /// it is the decision being inverted. The board is the position the
     /// move left, which is the address, and the node's own evaluation is
-    /// read by stepping the move back, for kept events alone.
+    /// read by stepping the move back, for kept events alone. `scout` is
+    /// the scout's fail soft score, at or under alpha.
     #[cold]
     #[inline(never)]
     fn forced_scout(
@@ -1514,6 +1520,7 @@ impl AlphaBeta {
         depth: u8,
         alpha: Score,
         beta: Score,
+        scout: Score,
     ) -> bool {
         let address = forced::Address {
             kind: forced::Kind::TrustedScout,
@@ -1546,6 +1553,7 @@ impl AlphaBeta {
                 features: Some(staged.features),
                 eval_beta: eval_beta as i32,
                 alpha_gap: alpha_gap as i32,
+                gap: Some(i32::from(alpha) - i32::from(scout)),
                 fen,
             }
         });
@@ -2236,7 +2244,14 @@ impl AlphaBeta {
             }
             if floor >= beta {
                 if self.forced.is_some()
-                    && self.forced_node(forced::Kind::ReverseFutility, depth, eval, alpha, beta)
+                    && self.forced_node(
+                        forced::Kind::ReverseFutility,
+                        depth,
+                        eval,
+                        alpha,
+                        beta,
+                        i32::from(floor) - i32::from(beta),
+                    )
                 {
                     margin_inverted = true;
                 } else {
@@ -2265,7 +2280,14 @@ impl AlphaBeta {
             let value = -result?;
             if value.score >= beta
                 && !(self.forced.is_some()
-                    && self.forced_node(forced::Kind::NullMove, depth, eval, alpha, beta))
+                    && self.forced_node(
+                        forced::Kind::NullMove,
+                        depth,
+                        eval,
+                        alpha,
+                        beta,
+                        i32::from(value.score) - i32::from(beta),
+                    ))
             {
                 // a mate found through a pass is not a mate, since the pass
                 // is not a legal move, so the score is held under the window
@@ -2378,7 +2400,8 @@ impl AlphaBeta {
                 );
             }
             if scout.score <= alpha
-                && !(self.forced.is_some() && self.forced_scout(staged, depth, alpha, beta))
+                && !(self.forced.is_some()
+                    && self.forced_scout(staged, depth, alpha, beta, scout.score))
             {
                 return Ok(scout);
             }
diff --git a/arche-core/src/forced.rs b/arche-core/src/forced.rs
index 75d1d78d..82606ff6 100644
--- a/arche-core/src/forced.rs
+++ b/arche-core/src/forced.rs
@@ -176,6 +176,12 @@ pub struct Event {
     pub(crate) features: Option<Features>,
     pub eval_beta: i32,
     pub alpha_gap: i32,
+    /// How far the decision's own bound cleared its window, in the
+    /// direction that took the decision: for a trusted scout, the alpha it
+    /// was read against less its fail soft score; for the null move, the
+    /// pass's score less beta; for reverse futility, the margin's floor
+    /// less beta. Zero at the bound. None on a skip, which searches nothing.
+    pub gap: Option<i32>,
     /// The deciding node's position.
     pub fen: String,
 }
@@ -396,11 +402,11 @@ pub fn run(
 /// and what the default answered at each root.
 ///
 /// A row is `kind depth index searched generated history history_max
-/// killer tt eval_beta alpha_gap answered visits root best_on
+/// killer tt eval_beta alpha_gap gap answered visits root best_on
 /// best_forced score_on score_forced nodes_on nodes_forced fen`,
 /// whitespace separated with the deciding node's fen last. `root` is the
 /// root's place in the suite, which its line names. A move decision's own
-/// columns print `-` on a node decision.
+/// columns print `-` on a node decision, and `gap` prints `-` on a skip.
 impl fmt::Display for Report {
     fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
         writeln!(
@@ -435,12 +441,13 @@ impl fmt::Display for Report {
             };
             writeln!(
                 f,
-                "{} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {}",
+                "{} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {}",
                 e.address.kind.word(),
                 e.address.depth,
                 features,
                 e.eval_beta,
                 e.alpha_gap,
+                e.gap.map_or_else(|| "-".to_string(), |gap| gap.to_string()),
                 row.answered.map_or("-", Answered::word),
                 row.visits,
                 e.root,
diff --git a/docs/INSTRUMENTS.md b/docs/INSTRUMENTS.md
index e7f21f31..80073d60 100644
--- a/docs/INSTRUMENTS.md
+++ b/docs/INSTRUMENTS.md
@@ -432,9 +432,13 @@ quiets at once never meets the skips in it. The tests hold an armed search's
 move, score and node count to an unarmed one's.
 
 Each row is `kind depth index searched generated history history_max killer
-tt eval_beta alpha_gap answered visits root best_on best_forced score_on
-score_forced nodes_on nodes_forced fen`. The move columns are the ledger's,
-read at the first visit, and print `-` on a node decision. Every skip at
+tt eval_beta alpha_gap gap answered visits root best_on best_forced
+score_on score_forced nodes_on nodes_forced fen`. The move columns are the
+ledger's, read at the first visit, and print `-` on a node decision. `gap`
+is how far the decision's own bound cleared its window, zero at the bound:
+for a trusted scout the alpha less its fail soft score, for the null move
+the pass's score less beta, and for reverse futility the margin's floor
+less beta. A skip searched nothing and prints `-`. Every skip at
 depth four and up has an `eval_beta` at or under minus the skip's margin by
 construction. `answered` is, for a node decision, what answered the node once it
 was inverted. `visits` is how often the forced search met the address, and a
diff --git a/tests/forced_session.rs b/tests/forced_session.rs
index f05238c3..7e3dc9cd 100644
--- a/tests/forced_session.rs
+++ b/tests/forced_session.rs
@@ -24,18 +24,24 @@ fn the_forced_argument_prints_a_header_rows_and_a_line_a_kind_and_a_root() {
     assert!(printed.events() > 0, "header: {}", printed.header);
     for row in &printed.rows {
         let words: Vec<&str> = row.split(' ').collect();
-        // twenty columns before a fen of six fields
-        assert_eq!(words.len(), 26, "row: {row}");
+        // twenty one columns before a fen of six fields
+        assert_eq!(words.len(), 27, "row: {row}");
         assert!(
             ["reverse_futility", "null_move", "skip", "trusted_scout"].contains(&words[0]),
             "row: {row}"
         );
         // depth, visits, root, the two scores and the two node counts
-        for at in [1, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19] {
+        for at in [1, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20] {
             assert!(words[at].parse::<i64>().is_ok(), "field {at} of {row}");
         }
+        // every decision but a skip cleared its bound, by zero or more
+        if words[0] == "skip" {
+            assert_eq!(words[11], "-", "row: {row}");
+        } else {
+            assert!(words[11].parse::<u32>().is_ok(), "row: {row}");
+        }
         // a kept decision the forced search never met is a failed row
-        assert!(words[12] != "0", "row: {row}");
+        assert!(words[13] != "0", "row: {row}");
     }
     let kinds = printed
         .summary