Puzzle themes
Recommended
Phases
Opening134,352
A tactic during the first phase of the game.Middlegame1,123,212
A tactic during the second phase of the game.Endgame1,007,246
A tactic during the last phase of the game.Rook endgame95,674
An endgame with only rooks and pawns.Bishop endgame22,240
An endgame with only bishops and pawns.Pawn endgame49,626
An endgame with only pawns.Knight endgame15,140
An endgame with only knights and pawns.Queen endgame17,906
An endgame with only queens and pawns.Queen and Rook14,294
An endgame with only queens, rooks, and pawns.Motifs
Advanced pawn110,242
One of your pawns is deep into the opponent position, maybe threatening to promote.Attacking f2 or f710,653
An attack focusing on the f2 or f7 pawn, such as in the fried liver opening.Capture the defender19,831
Removing a piece that is critical to defense of another piece, allowing the now undefended piece to be captured on a following move.Discovered attack137,195
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 check11,105
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 king54,045
A tactic involving a king with few defenders around it, often leading to checkmate.Fork343,721
A move where the moved piece attacks two opponent pieces at once.Hanging piece106,512
A tactic involving an opponent piece being undefended or insufficiently defended and free to capture.Kingside attack170,579
An attack of the opponent's king, after they castled on the king side.Pin149,310
A tactic involving pins, where a piece is unable to move without revealing an attack on a higher value piece.Queenside attack29,302
An attack of the opponent's king, after they castled on the queen side.Sacrifice156,383
A tactic involving giving up material in the short-term, to gain an advantage again after a forced sequence of moves.Skewer49,767
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 piece36,513
A piece is unable to escape capture as it has limited moves.Advanced
Attraction73,524
An exchange or sacrifice encouraging or forcing an opponent piece to a square that allows a follow-up tactic.Clearance29,197
A move, often with tempo, that clears a square, file or diagonal for a follow-up tactical idea.Defensive move125,134
A precise move or sequence of moves that is needed to avoid losing material or another advantage.Deflection95,167
A move that distracts an opponent piece from another duty that it performs, such as guarding a key square. Sometimes also called "overloading".Interference9,286
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.Intermezzo34,732
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 move74,775
A move that does not make a check or capture, but does prepare an unavoidable threat for a later move.X-Ray attack7,935
A piece attacks or defends a square, through an enemy piece.Zugzwang14,249
The opponent is limited in the moves they can make, and all moves worsen their position.Mates
Checkmate521,667
Win the game with style.Mate in 1149,256
Deliver checkmate in one move.Mate in 2287,537
Deliver checkmate in two moves.Mate in 372,086
Deliver checkmate in three moves.Mate in 410,463
Deliver checkmate in four moves.Mate in 5 or more2,325
Figure out a long mating sequence.Anastasia's mate2,287
A knight and rook or queen team up to trap the opposing king between the side of the board and a friendly piece.Arabian mate2,147
A knight and a rook team up to trap the opposing king on a corner of the board.Back rank mate74,769
Checkmate the king on the home rank, when it is trapped there by its own pieces.Boden's mate671
Two attacking bishops on criss-crossing diagonals deliver mate to a king obstructed by friendly pieces.Double bishop mate768
Two attacking bishops on adjacent diagonals deliver mate to a king obstructed by friendly pieces.Dovetail mate935
A queen delivers mate to an adjacent king, whose only two escape squares are obstructed by friendly pieces.Hook mate2,994
Checkmate with a rook, knight, and pawn along with one enemy pawn to limit the enemy king's escape.Smothered mate5,131
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
Castling1,202
Bring the king to safety, and deploy the rook for attack.En passant3,260
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.Promotion40,935
Promote one of your pawns to a queen or minor piece.Underpromotion373
Promotion to a knight, bishop, or rook.Goals
Equality42,978
Come back from a losing position, and secure a draw or a balanced position. (eval ≤ 200cp)Advantage736,730
Seize your chance to get a decisive advantage. (200cp ≤ eval ≤ 600cp)Crushing962,390
Spot the opponent blunder to obtain a crushing advantage. (eval ≥ 600cp)Checkmate521,667
Win the game with style.Lengths
One-move puzzle196,516
A puzzle that is only one move long.Short puzzle1,434,398
Two moves to win.Long puzzle483,812
Three moves to win.Very long puzzle149,039
Four moves or more to win.Origin
Master games193,925
Puzzles from games played by titled players.Master vs Master games19,649
Puzzles from games between two titled players.Super GM games2,127
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.