Puzzle Themes

Recommended

Healthy mix۶٬۱۰۳٬۴۲۰

A bit of everything. You don't know what to expect, so you remain ready for anything! Just like in real games.

Phases

Opening۳۱۰٬۳۳۶

A tactic during the first phase of the game.

Middlegame۲٬۷۹۰٬۴۹۹

A tactic during the second phase of the game.

Endgame۳٬۰۰۲٬۵۸۵

A tactic during the last phase of the game.

Rook endgame۳۱۹٬۰۰۹

An endgame with only rooks and pawns.

Bishop endgame۸۱٬۰۹۹

An endgame with only bishops and pawns.

Pawn endgame۲۱۵٬۴۱۹

An endgame with only pawns.

Knight endgame۴۹٬۱۹۰

An endgame with only knights and pawns.

Queen endgame۶۸٬۷۹۱

An endgame with only queens and pawns.

Queen and Rook۴۴٬۶۵۴

An endgame with only queens, rooks and pawns.

By openingsMore »

Motifs

Advanced pawn۳۶۹٬۱۶۶

One of your pawns is deep into the opponent position, maybe threatening to promote.

Attacking f2 or f7۴۳٬۹۹۶

An attack focusing on the f2 or f7 pawn, such as in the fried liver opening.

Capture the defender۴۲٬۱۰۸

Removing a piece that is critical to defence of another piece, allowing the now undefended piece to be captured on a following move.

Discovered attack۳۱۶٬۸۴۶

Moving a piece (such as a knight), that previously blocked an attack by a long range piece (such as a rook), out of the way of that piece.

Double check۳۱٬۶۳۵

Checking with two pieces at once, as a result of a discovered attack where both the moving piece and the unveiled piece attack the opponent's king.

Exposed king۱۸۰٬۱۳۵

A tactic involving a king with few defenders around it, often leading to checkmate.

Fork۸۰۵٬۳۵۵

A move where the moved piece attacks two opponent pieces at once.

Hanging piece۲۴۳٬۰۵۴

A tactic involving an opponent piece being undefended or insufficiently defended and free to capture.

Kingside attack۵۲۰٬۸۵۲

An attack of the opponent's king, after they castled on the king side.

Pin۳۷۰٬۷۰۴

A tactic involving pins, where a piece is unable to move without revealing an attack on a higher value piece.

Queenside attack۸۹٬۹۷۶

An attack of the opponent's king, after they castled on the queen side.

Sacrifice۴۴۷٬۵۵۲

A tactic involving giving up material in the short-term, to gain an advantage again after a forced sequence of moves.

Skewer۱۳۶٬۴۸۸

A motif involving a high value piece being attacked, moving out the way, and allowing a lower value piece behind it to be captured or attacked, the inverse of a pin.

Trapped piece۷۱٬۸۶۳

A piece is unable to escape capture as it has limited moves.

Advanced

Attraction۲۱۶٬۴۶۸

An exchange or sacrifice encouraging or forcing an opponent piece to a square that allows a follow-up tactic.

Clearance۷۹٬۱۳۶

A move, often with tempo, that clears a square, file or diagonal for a follow-up tactical idea.

Collinear move۰

Two opposing pieces face each other, and one slides along the line of attack without capturing the enemy piece.

Discovered check۱۰۸٬۸۰۸

Move a piece to reveal a check from a hidden attacking piece, which often leads to a decisive advantage.

Defensive move۳۶۵٬۴۶۱

A precise move or sequence of moves that is needed to avoid losing material or another advantage.

Deflection۲۶۲٬۶۷۱

A move that distracts an opponent piece from another duty that it performs, such as guarding a key square. Sometimes also called "overloading".

Interference۲۲٬۵۸۰

Moving a piece between two opponent pieces to leave one or both opponent pieces undefended, such as a knight on a defended square between two rooks.

Intermezzo۷۶٬۳۴۴

Instead of playing the expected move, first interpose another move posing an immediate threat that the opponent must answer. Also known as "Zwischenzug" or "In between".

Quiet move۲۴۹٬۶۶۸

A move that does neither make a check or capture, nor an immediate threat to capture, but does prepare a more hidden unavoidable threat for a later move.

X-Ray attack۲۱٬۳۱۲

A piece attacks or defends a square, through an enemy piece.

Zugzwang۶۱٬۰۵۲

The opponent is limited in the moves they can make, and all moves worsen their position.

Mates

Checkmate۱٬۸۵۶٬۲۴۳

Win the game with style.

Mate in 1۸۵۲٬۱۱۵

Deliver checkmate in one move.

Mate in 2۷۸۰٬۲۶۱

Deliver checkmate in two moves.

Mate in 3۱۹۰٬۰۱۰

Deliver checkmate in three moves.

Mate in 4۲۷٬۸۴۹

Deliver checkmate in four moves.

Mate in 5 or more۶٬۰۱۰

Figure out a long mating sequence.

Mate themes

Anastasia's mate۷٬۱۵۳

A knight and rook or queen team up to trap the opposing king between the side of the board and a friendly piece.

Arabian mate۷٬۰۹۱

A knight and a rook team up to trap the opposing king on a corner of the board.

Back rank mate۱۹۹٬۲۲۳

Checkmate the king on the home rank, when it is trapped there by its own pieces.

Balestra mate۱٬۳۶۸

A bishop delivers the checkmate, while a queen blocks the remaining escape squares

Blind Swine mate۶٬۳۶۱

Two rooks team up to mate the king in an area of 2 by 2 squares.

Boden's mate۳٬۵۳۹

Two attacking bishops on criss-crossing diagonals deliver mate to a king obstructed by friendly pieces.

Corner mate۱۰٬۷۹۲

Confine the king to the corner using a rook or queen and a knight to engage the checkmate.

Double bishop mate۳٬۵۰۰

Two attacking bishops on adjacent diagonals deliver mate to a king obstructed by friendly pieces.

Dovetail mate۳٬۸۸۹

A queen delivers mate to an adjacent king, whose only two escape squares are obstructed by friendly pieces.

Epaulette mate۲۲٬۶۵۷

Two adjacent escape squares for a checked king are occupied by other pieces.

Hook mate۱۰٬۱۶۹

Checkmate with a rook, knight, and pawn along with one enemy pawn to limit the enemy king's escape.

Kill box mate۵٬۵۲۰

A rook is next to the enemy king and supported by a queen that also blocks the king's escape squares. The rook and the queen catch the enemy king in a 3 by 3 "kill box".

Pillsbury's mate۶۷٬۶۴۸

The rook delivers checkmate, while the bishop helps to confine it.

Morphy's mate۷٬۱۳۵

Use the bishop to check the king, while your rook helps to confine it.

Opera mate۶۳٬۹۴۲

Check the king with a rook and use a bishop to defend the rook.

Swallow's tail mate۸٬۳۹۸

A checkmate pattern that visually resembles the appearance of a swallow’s tail, similar to a V shape.

Triangle mate۷٬۸۵۴

The queen and rook, one square away from the enemy king, are on the same rank or file, separated by one square, forming a triangle.

Vukovic mate۲٬۴۸۷

A rook and knight team up to mate the king. The rook delivers mate while supported by a third piece, and the knight is used to block the king's escape squares.

Smothered mate۲۳٬۰۹۱

A checkmate delivered by a knight in which the mated king is unable to move because it is surrounded (or smothered) by its own pieces.

Special moves

Castling۲٬۵۹۵

Bring the king to safety, and deploy the rook for attack.

En passant rights۸٬۵۴۶

A tactic involving the en passant rule, where a pawn can capture an opponent pawn that has bypassed it using its initial two-square move.

Promotion۱۴۳٬۶۱۸

Promote one of your pawn to a queen or minor piece.

Underpromotion۱٬۱۳۲

Promotion to a knight, bishop, or rook.

Goals

Equality۴۳٬۰۲۷

Come back from a losing position, and secure a draw or a balanced position. (eval ≤ 200cp)

Advantage۱٬۸۲۳٬۹۶۶

Seize your chance to get a decisive advantage. (200cp ≤ eval ≤ 600cp)

Crushing۲٬۳۵۰٬۷۵۷

Spot the opponent blunder to obtain a crushing advantage. (eval ≥ 600cp)

Checkmate۱٬۸۵۶٬۲۴۳

Win the game with style.

Lengths

One-move puzzle۸۹۹٬۳۷۳

A puzzle that is only one move long.

Short puzzle۳٬۱۲۹٬۱۰۶

Two moves to win.

Long puzzle۱٬۵۵۴٬۵۱۰

Three moves to win.

Very long puzzle۴۹۱٬۰۰۴

Four moves or more to win.

Origin

Master games۸۰۸٬۷۰۳

Puzzles from games played by titled players.

Master vs Master games۷۵٬۹۱۲

Puzzles from games between two titled players.

Super GM games۳٬۱۹۹

Puzzles from games played by the best players in the world.

Player games

Lookup puzzles generated from your games, or from another player's games.

These puzzles are in the public domain, and can be downloaded from database.lichess.org.