Puzzle Themes
Recommended
Phases
Opening312 364
A tactic during the first phase of the game.
Middlegame2 813 004
A tactic during the second phase of the game.
Endgame3 032 096
A tactic during the last phase of the game.
Rook endgame322 328
An endgame with only rooks and pawns.
Bishop endgame81 977
An endgame with only bishops and pawns.
Pawn endgame217 913
An endgame with only pawns.
Knight endgame49 706
An endgame with only knights and pawns.
Queen endgame69 576
An endgame with only queens and pawns.
Queen and Rook45 173
An endgame with only queens, rooks and pawns.By openingsUgar »
Sicilian Defense198 693
French Defense84 298
Queen's Pawn Game76 575
Italian Game72 983
Caro-Kann Defense70 431
Scandinavian Defense55 368
Queen's Gambit Declined48 183
English Opening40 540
Ruy Lopez39 290
Scotch Game36 217
Indian Defense35 081
Philidor Defense24 587
Motifs
Advanced pawn372 905
One of your pawns is deep into the opponent position, maybe threatening to promote.
Attacking f2 or f744 506
An attack focusing on the f2 or f7 pawn, such as in the fried liver opening.
Capture the defender42 319
Removing a piece that is critical to defence of another piece, allowing the now undefended piece to be captured on a following move.
Discovered attack319 209
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 check31 934
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 king181 818
A tactic involving a king with few defenders around it, often leading to checkmate.
Fork811 308
A move where the moved piece attacks two opponent pieces at once.
Hanging piece244 930
A tactic involving an opponent piece being undefended or insufficiently defended and free to capture.
Kingside attack526 337
An attack of the opponent's king, after they castled on the king side.
Pin373 741
A tactic involving pins, where a piece is unable to move without revealing an attack on a higher value piece.
Queenside attack90 904
An attack of the opponent's king, after they castled on the queen side.
Sacrifice452 011
A tactic involving giving up material in the short-term, to gain an advantage again after a forced sequence of moves.
Skewer137 723
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 piece72 213
A piece is unable to escape capture as it has limited moves.Advanced
Attraction218 530
An exchange or sacrifice encouraging or forcing an opponent piece to a square that allows a follow-up tactic.
Clearance79 830
A move, often with tempo, that clears a square, file or diagonal for a follow-up tactical idea.
Collinear move7 242
Two opposing pieces face each other, and one slides along the line of attack without capturing the enemy piece.
Discovered check108 808
Move a piece to reveal a check from a hidden attacking piece, which often leads to a decisive advantage.
Defensive move368 573
A precise move or sequence of moves that is needed to avoid losing material or another advantage.
Deflection265 054
A move that distracts an opponent piece from another duty that it performs, such as guarding a key square. Sometimes also called "overloading".
Interference22 757
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.
Intermezzo76 865
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 move251 981
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 attack21 558
A piece attacks or defends a square, through an enemy piece.
Zugzwang61 704
The opponent is limited in the moves they can make, and all moves worsen their position.Mates
Checkmate1 878 989
Win the game with style.Mate in 1863 741
Deliver checkmate in one move.Mate in 2788 795
Deliver checkmate in two moves.Mate in 3192 210
Deliver checkmate in three moves.Mate in 428 173
Deliver checkmate in four moves.Mate in 5 or more6 072
Figure out a long mating sequence.Mate themes
Anastasia's mate7 233
A knight and rook or queen team up to trap the opposing king between the side of the board and a friendly piece.
Arabian mate7 194
A knight and a rook team up to trap the opposing king on a corner of the board.
Back rank mate201 272
Checkmate the king on the home rank, when it is trapped there by its own pieces.
Balestra mate1 368
A bishop delivers the checkmate, while a queen blocks the remaining escape squares
Blind Swine mate6 361
Two rooks team up to mate the king in an area of 2 by 2 squares.
Boden's mate3 599
Two attacking bishops on criss-crossing diagonals deliver mate to a king obstructed by friendly pieces.
Corner mate10 788
Confine the king to the corner using a rook or queen and a knight to engage the checkmate.
Double bishop mate3 547
Two attacking bishops on adjacent diagonals deliver mate to a king obstructed by friendly pieces.
Dovetail mate3 947
A queen delivers mate to an adjacent king, whose only two escape squares are obstructed by friendly pieces.
Epaulette mate22 656
Two adjacent escape squares for a checked king are occupied by other pieces.
Hook mate10 286
Checkmate with a rook, knight, and pawn along with one enemy pawn to limit the enemy king's escape.
Kill box mate5 520
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 mate67 648
The rook delivers checkmate, while the bishop helps to confine it.
Morphy's mate7 135
Use the bishop to check the king, while your rook helps to confine it.
Opera mate63 942
Check the king with a rook and use a bishop to defend the rook.
Swallow's tail mate8 398
A checkmate pattern that visually resembles the appearance of a swallow’s tail, similar to a V shape.
Triangle mate7 854
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 mate2 487
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 mate23 393
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 603
Bring the king to safety, and deploy the rook for attack.
En passant rights8 617
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.
Promotion145 092
Promote one of your pawn to a queen or minor piece.
Underpromotion1 140
Promotion to a knight, bishop, or rook.Goals
Equality43 029
Come back from a losing position, and secure a draw or a balanced position. (eval ≤ 200cp)
Advantage1 837 785
Seize your chance to get a decisive advantage. (200cp ≤ eval ≤ 600cp)
Crushing2 368 276
Spot the opponent blunder to obtain a crushing advantage. (eval ≥ 600cp)Checkmate1 878 989
Win the game with style.Lengths
One-move puzzle910 999
A puzzle that is only one move long.
Short puzzle3 153 070
Two moves to win.
Long puzzle1 568 836
Three moves to win.
Very long puzzle495 174
Four moves or more to win.Origin
Master games813 804
Puzzles from games played by titled players.
Master vs Master games76 131
Puzzles from games between two titled players.
Super GM games3 223
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.