Puzzle Themes

Recommended

Healthy mix۶٬۰۲۱٬۱۲۷

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

Phases

Opening۳۰۷٬۲۵۵

A tactic during the first phase of the game.

Middlegame۲٬۷۵۶٬۲۱۴

A tactic during the second phase of the game.

Endgame۲٬۹۵۷٬۶۵۸

A tactic during the last phase of the game.

Rook endgame۳۱۳٬۹۰۰

An endgame with only rooks and pawns.

Bishop endgame۷۹٬۷۶۷

An endgame with only bishops and pawns.

Pawn endgame۲۱۱٬۵۸۳

An endgame with only pawns.

Knight endgame۴۸٬۴۱۴

An endgame with only knights and pawns.

Queen endgame۶۷٬۵۸۱

An endgame with only queens and pawns.

Queen and Rook۴۳٬۹۴۰

An endgame with only queens, rooks and pawns.

By openingsMore »

Motifs

Advanced pawn۳۶۳٬۴۵۸

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

Attacking f2 or f7۴۳٬۲۶۶

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

Capture the defender۴۱٬۷۷۱

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

Discovered attack۳۱۳٬۲۱۴

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 check۳۱٬۱۲۵

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 king۱۷۷٬۳۹۴

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

Fork۷۹۶٬۰۸۵

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

Hanging piece۲۴۰٬۱۵۲

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

Kingside attack۵۱۲٬۶۲۶

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

Pin۳۶۶٬۱۸۵

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

Queenside attack۸۸٬۵۶۱

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

Sacrifice۴۴۰٬۸۴۲

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

Skewer۱۳۴٬۶۹۱

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 piece۷۱٬۲۷۵

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

Advanced

Attraction۲۱۳٬۳۴۱

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

Clearance۷۸٬۱۱۲

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

Discovered check۱۰۸٬۸۰۸

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

Defensive move۳۶۰٬۷۲۵

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

Deflection۲۵۸٬۹۴۲

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

Interference۲۲٬۳۴۲

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.

Intermezzo۷۵٬۵۹۹

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 move۲۴۶٬۱۷۸

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 attack۲۱٬۰۰۵

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

Zugzwang۵۹٬۹۶۹

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

Mates

Checkmate۱٬۸۲۱٬۸۲۱

Win the game with style.

Mate in 1۸۳۴٬۳۷۶

Deliver checkmate in one move.

Mate in 2۷۶۷٬۳۸۴

Deliver checkmate in two moves.

Mate in 3۱۸۶٬۷۷۰

Deliver checkmate in three moves.

Mate in 4۲۷٬۳۸۹

Deliver checkmate in four moves.

Mate in 5 or more۵٬۹۰۴

Figure out a long mating sequence.

Mate themes

Anastasia's mate۷٬۰۲۸

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

Arabian mate۶٬۹۴۱

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

Back rank mate۱۹۶٬۱۵۱

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 mate۳٬۴۷۸

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

Corner mate۱۰٬۷۹۴

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

Double bishop mate۳٬۴۱۶

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

Dovetail mate۳٬۸۱۳

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

Hook mate۹٬۹۸۳

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 mate۶۷٬۶۵۰

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.

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 mate۲۲٬۶۰۰

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

Castling۲٬۵۸۴

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

En passant۸٬۴۴۳

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.

Promotion۱۴۱٬۲۸۲

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

Underpromotion۱٬۱۱۵

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)

Advantage۱٬۸۰۲٬۰۹۳

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

Crushing۲٬۳۲۴٬۶۳۰

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

Checkmate۱٬۸۲۱٬۸۲۱

Win the game with style.

Lengths

One-move puzzle۸۸۱٬۶۳۳

A puzzle that is only one move long.

Short puzzle۳٬۰۹۲٬۷۷۸

Two moves to win.

Long puzzle۱٬۵۳۲٬۵۰۲

Three moves to win.

Very long puzzle۴۸۴٬۶۵۸

Four moves or more to win.

Origin

Master games۸۰۰٬۴۰۱

Puzzles from games played by titled players.

Master vs Master games۷۵٬۵۶۸

Puzzles from games between two titled players.

Super GM games۳٬۱۷۳

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.