Puzzle Themes
Recommended
Phases
Opening238,438
A tactic during the first phase of the game.Middlegame2,051,135
A tactic during the second phase of the game.Endgame2,051,291
A tactic during the last phase of the game.Rook endgame210,565
An endgame with only rooks and pawns.Bishop endgame53,205
An endgame with only bishops and pawns.Pawn endgame132,990
An endgame with only pawns.Knight endgame33,220
An endgame with only knights and pawns.Queen endgame42,773
An endgame with only queens and pawns.Queen and Rook29,345
An endgame with only queens, rooks, and pawns.By game openingMore »
Sicilian Defense153,225
French Defense63,413
Queen's Pawn Game55,965
Italian Game55,052
Caro-Kann Defense49,073
Scandinavian Defense39,021
Queen's Gambit Declined37,225
English Opening30,940
Ruy Lopez30,917
Scotch Game26,587
Indian Defense26,549
Philidor Defense19,432
Motifs
Advanced pawn244,195
One of your pawns is deep into the opponent position, maybe threatening to promote.Attacking f2 or f727,476
An attack focusing on the f2 or f7 pawn, such as in the fried liver opening.Capture the defender34,108
Removing a piece that is critical to defense of another piece, allowing the now undefended piece to be captured on a following move.Discovered attack237,143
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 check21,027
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 king120,336
A tactic involving a king with few defenders around it, often leading to checkmate.Fork601,918
A move where the moved piece attacks two opponent pieces at once.Hanging piece181,550
A tactic involving an opponent piece being undefended or insufficiently defended and free to capture.Kingside attack344,427
An attack of the opponent's king, after they castled on the king side.Pin270,520
A tactic involving pins, where a piece is unable to move without revealing an attack on a higher value piece.Queenside attack59,417
An attack of the opponent's king, after they castled on the queen side.Sacrifice306,182
A tactic involving giving up material in the short-term, to gain an advantage again after a forced sequence of moves.Skewer96,077
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 piece58,966
A piece is unable to escape capture as it has limited moves.Advanced
Attraction148,092
An exchange or sacrifice encouraging or forcing an opponent piece to a square that allows a follow-up tactic.Clearance57,468
A move, often with tempo, that clears a square, file or diagonal for a follow-up tactical idea.Defensive move261,255
A precise move or sequence of moves that is needed to avoid losing material or another advantage.Deflection182,536
A move that distracts an opponent piece from another duty that it performs, such as guarding a key square. Sometimes also called "overloading".Interference16,778
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.Intermezzo58,774
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 move170,899
A move that does not make a check or capture, but does prepare an unavoidable threat for a later move.X-Ray attack14,729
A piece attacks or defends a square, through an enemy piece.Zugzwang38,067
The opponent is limited in the moves they can make, and all moves worsen their position.Mates
Checkmate1,145,537
Win the game with style.Mate in 1481,330
Deliver checkmate in one move.Mate in 2516,110
Deliver checkmate in two moves.Mate in 3125,953
Deliver checkmate in three moves.Mate in 418,188
Deliver checkmate in four moves.Mate in 5 or more3,956
Figure out a long mating sequence.Anastasia's mate4,541
A knight and rook or queen team up to trap the opposing king between the side of the board and a friendly piece.Arabian mate4,463
A knight and a rook team up to trap the opposing king on a corner of the board.Back rank mate135,064
Checkmate the king on the home rank, when it is trapped there by its own pieces.Boden's mate1,968
Two attacking bishops on criss-crossing diagonals deliver mate to a king obstructed by friendly pieces.Double bishop mate2,019
Two attacking bishops on adjacent diagonals deliver mate to a king obstructed by friendly pieces.Dovetail mate2,310
A queen delivers mate to an adjacent king, whose only two escape squares are obstructed by friendly pieces.Hook mate6,376
Checkmate with a rook, knight, and pawn along with one enemy pawn to limit the enemy king's escape.Smothered mate13,552
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
Castling2,153
Bring the king to safety, and deploy the rook for attack.En passant6,261
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.Promotion93,003
Promote one of your pawns to a queen or minor piece.Underpromotion773
Promotion to a knight, bishop, or rook.Goals
Equality43,010
Come back from a losing position, and secure a draw or a balanced position. (eval ≤ 200cp)Advantage1,300,949
Seize your chance to get a decisive advantage. (200cp ≤ eval ≤ 600cp)Crushing1,802,435
Spot the opponent blunder to obtain a crushing advantage. (eval ≥ 600cp)Checkmate1,145,537
Win the game with style.Lengths
One-move puzzle528,590
A puzzle that is only one move long.Short puzzle2,347,848
Two moves to win.Long puzzle1,072,735
Three moves to win.Very long puzzle342,761
Four moves or more to win.Origin
Master games611,320
Puzzles from games played by titled players.Master vs Master games65,469
Puzzles from games between two titled players.Super GM games2,805
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.