All puzzles
Puzzle themes
Pick a motif to drill. Puzzles come around your rating, one after another.
Healthy mixA bit of everything, around your rating.Phases
- OpeningTactics in the first moves of the game.
- MiddlegameTactics once the pieces are developed.
- EndgameTactics with few pieces left on the board.
- Rook endgameOnly rooks and pawns are left.
- Bishop endgameOnly bishops and pawns are left.
- Pawn endgameOnly kings and pawns are left.
- Knight endgameOnly knights and pawns are left.
- Queen endgameOnly queens and pawns are left.
- Queen and rookOnly queens, rooks and pawns are left.
Motifs
- Advanced pawnA pawn deep in enemy territory decides the game.
- Attacking f2 or f7Hit the weak pawn next to the uncastled king.
- Capture the defenderTake the piece that guards something, then win what it guarded.
- Discovered attackMove one piece out of the way to unmask an attack by another.
- Double checkCheck with two pieces at once: the king must move.
- Exposed kingGo after a king with few defenders around it.
- ForkOne piece attacks two or more targets at once.
- Hanging pieceWin a piece that is left without protection.
- Kingside attackAttack the king after it castled short.
- PinA piece can’t move without exposing something worth more behind it.
- Queenside attackAttack the king after it castled long.
- SacrificeGive up material now to gain more later.
- SkewerAttack a valuable piece so that the one behind it falls when it moves.
- Trapped pieceA piece has no safe square left and can be won.
Advanced
- AttractionLure an enemy piece onto a square where it can be hit.
- ClearanceClear a square, file or diagonal for another piece.
- Collinear moveSlide a piece along a line between two enemy pieces facing each other.
- Discovered checkMove a piece so that another one behind it gives check.
- Defensive moveThe only move that holds the position together.
- DeflectionPull a defender away from the square it must guard.
- InterferencePut a piece between two enemy pieces to cut them off.
- IntermezzoPlay a stronger in-between move before the expected one.
- Quiet moveNo check, no capture: a calm move that prepares the blow.
- X-ray attackA piece attacks or defends a square through an enemy piece.
- ZugzwangThe opponent would like to pass, but every move hurts.
Mates
Mate patterns
- Anastasia’s mateKnight and rook (or queen) trap the king on the edge.
- Arabian mateKnight and rook mate the king in a corner.
- Back rank mateMate on the back rank, the king boxed in by its pawns.
- Balestra mateA bishop gives mate while the queen covers the escape.
- Blind swine mateTwo rooks on the seventh rank mate the king.
- Boden’s mateTwo bishops on crossing diagonals mate the king.
- Corner mateRook and knight mate a king stuck in the corner.
- Double bishop mateTwo bishops side by side mate the king on the edge.
- Dovetail mateThe queen mates next to the king, whose own pieces block its escape.
- Epaulette mateThe king’s own pieces on both sides block it in.
- Hook mateRook, knight and pawn hook around the king.
- Kill box mateRook and queen box the king into a square of squares.
- Morphy’s mateA bishop mates on the long diagonal, a rook cuts off.
- Opera mateRook mates on the back rank, guarded by a bishop.
- Pillsbury’s mateRook and bishop mate on the open g-file.
- Smothered mateA knight mates a king hemmed in by its own pieces.
- Swallow’s tail mateThe queen mates in front of the king, its escape squares blocked behind.
- Triangle mateQueen and rook form a triangle around the king.
- Vuković mateRook and knight mate the king on the edge.
Special moves
Goals
Lengths
Origin
Puzzles come from the Lichess open puzzle database (CC0), with their ratings and themes. database.lichess.org