Puzzle themes
Recommended
Phases
Opening184,448
A tactic during the first phase of the game.Middlegame1,555,319
A tactic during the second phase of the game.Endgame1,415,928
A tactic during the last phase of the game.Rook endgame139,672
An endgame with only rooks and pawns.Bishop endgame33,912
An endgame with only bishops and pawns.Pawn endgame78,854
An endgame with only pawns.Knight endgame22,322
An endgame with only knights and pawns.Queen endgame26,887
An endgame with only queens and pawns.Queen and Rook19,607
An endgame with only queens, rooks, and pawns.By game openingMore »
Sicilian Defense121,293
French Defense50,088
Queen's Pawn Game42,090
Italian Game41,905
Caro-Kann Defense35,593
Queen's Gambit Declined28,857
Scandinavian Defense28,854
English Opening24,614
Ruy Lopez24,569
Indian Defense20,381
Scotch Game20,150
Russian Game16,069
Motifs
Advanced pawn164,650
One of your pawns is deep into the opponent position, maybe threatening to promote.Attacking f2 or f715,769
An attack focusing on the f2 or f7 pawn, such as in the fried liver opening.Capture the defender28,940
Removing a piece that is critical to defense of another piece, allowing the now undefended piece to be captured on a following move.Discovered attack186,199
Moving a piece that previously blocked an attack by another long range piece, such as a knight out of the way of a rook.Double check14,848
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 king83,794
A tactic involving a king with few defenders around it, often leading to checkmate.Fork473,055
A move where the moved piece attacks two opponent pieces at once.Hanging piece140,376
A tactic involving an opponent piece being undefended or insufficiently defended and free to capture.Kingside attack235,016
An attack of the opponent's king, after they castled on the king side.Pin206,989
A tactic involving pins, where a piece is unable to move without revealing an attack on a higher value piece.Queenside attack40,559
An attack of the opponent's king, after they castled on the queen side.Sacrifice222,536
A tactic involving giving up material in the short-term, to gain an advantage again after a forced sequence of moves.Skewer70,156
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 piece49,940
A piece is unable to escape capture as it has limited moves.Advanced
Attraction107,039
An exchange or sacrifice encouraging or forcing an opponent piece to a square that allows a follow-up tactic.Clearance44,246
A move, often with tempo, that clears a square, file or diagonal for a follow-up tactical idea.Defensive move189,558
A precise move or sequence of moves that is needed to avoid losing material or another advantage.Deflection133,286
A move that distracts an opponent piece from another duty that it performs, such as guarding a key square. Sometimes also called "overloading".Interference13,114
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.Intermezzo47,421
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 move119,570
A move that does not make a check or capture, but does prepare an unavoidable threat for a later move.X-Ray attack10,582
A piece attacks or defends a square, through an enemy piece.Zugzwang22,625
The opponent is limited in the moves they can make, and all moves worsen their position.Mates
Checkmate710,794
Win the game with style.Mate in 1244,339
Deliver checkmate in one move.Mate in 2361,213
Deliver checkmate in two moves.Mate in 389,458
Deliver checkmate in three moves.Mate in 412,908
Deliver checkmate in four moves.Mate in 5 or more2,876
Figure out a long mating sequence.Anastasia's mate3,007
A knight and rook or queen team up to trap the opposing king between the side of the board and a friendly piece.Arabian mate2,844
A knight and a rook team up to trap the opposing king on a corner of the board.Back rank mate95,189
Checkmate the king on the home rank, when it is trapped there by its own pieces.Boden's mate987
Two attacking bishops on criss-crossing diagonals deliver mate to a king obstructed by friendly pieces.Double bishop mate1,098
Two attacking bishops on adjacent diagonals deliver mate to a king obstructed by friendly pieces.Dovetail mate1,367
A queen delivers mate to an adjacent king, whose only two escape squares are obstructed by friendly pieces.Hook mate4,039
Checkmate with a rook, knight, and pawn along with one enemy pawn to limit the enemy king's escape.Smothered mate7,605
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
Castling1,875
Bring the king to safety, and deploy the rook for attack.En passant4,725
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.Promotion60,971
Promote one of your pawns to a queen or minor piece.Underpromotion569
Promotion to a knight, bishop, or rook.Goals
Equality42,990
Come back from a losing position, and secure a draw or a balanced position. (eval ≤ 200cp)Advantage919,968
Seize your chance to get a decisive advantage. (200cp ≤ eval ≤ 600cp)Crushing1,481,856
Spot the opponent blunder to obtain a crushing advantage. (eval ≥ 600cp)Checkmate710,794
Win the game with style.Lengths
One-move puzzle291,599
A puzzle that is only one move long.Short puzzle1,844,053
Two moves to win.Long puzzle773,098
Three moves to win.Very long puzzle246,858
Four moves or more to win.Origin
Master games272,845
Puzzles from games played by titled players.Master vs Master games25,380
Puzzles from games between two titled players.Super GM games2,344
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.