Puzzle Themes
Recommended
Phases
Opening252,140
A tactic during the first phase of the game.Middlegame2,189,578
A tactic during the second phase of the game.Endgame2,225,830
A tactic during the last phase of the game.Rook endgame230,241
An endgame with only rooks and pawns.Bishop endgame58,378
An endgame with only bishops and pawns.Pawn endgame147,771
An endgame with only pawns.Knight endgame36,068
An endgame with only knights and pawns.Queen endgame47,503
An endgame with only queens and pawns.Queen and Rook32,143
An endgame with only queens, rooks and pawns.By game openingMore »
Sicilian Defense161,919
French Defense67,140
Queen's Pawn Game59,723
Italian Game58,453
Caro-Kann Defense52,843
Scandinavian Defense41,936
Queen's Gambit Declined39,290
English Opening32,643
Ruy Lopez32,603
Scotch Game28,427
Indian Defense28,088
Philidor Defense20,409
Motifs
Advanced pawn267,122
One of your pawns is deep into the opponent position, maybe threatening to promote.Attacking f2 or f730,634
An attack focusing on the f2 or f7 pawn, such as in the fried liver opening.Capture the defender35,575
Removing a piece that is critical to defence of another piece, allowing the now undefended piece to be captured on a following move.Discovered attack251,924
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 check22,935
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 king131,411
A tactic involving a king with few defenders around it, often leading to checkmate.Fork639,899
A move where the moved piece attacks two opponent pieces at once.Hanging piece192,943
A tactic involving an opponent piece being undefended or insufficiently defended and free to capture.Kingside attack376,723
An attack of the opponent's king, after they castled on the king side.Pin289,147
A tactic involving pins, where a piece is unable to move without revealing an attack on a higher value piece.Queenside attack64,967
An attack of the opponent's king, after they castled on the queen side.Sacrifice331,842
A tactic involving giving up material in the short-term, to gain an advantage again after a forced sequence of moves.Skewer103,549
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 piece61,413
A piece is unable to escape capture as it has limited moves.Advanced
Attraction160,712
An exchange or sacrifice encouraging or forcing an opponent piece to a square that allows a follow-up tactic.Clearance61,448
A move, often with tempo, that clears a square, file or diagonal for a follow-up tactical idea.Defensive move280,316
A precise move or sequence of moves that is needed to avoid losing material or another advantage.Deflection197,425
A move that distracts an opponent piece from another duty that it performs, such as guarding a key square. Sometimes also called "overloading".Interference17,843
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.Intermezzo62,026
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 move185,129
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 attack15,925
A piece attacks or defends a square, through an enemy piece.Zugzwang42,017
The opponent is limited in the moves they can make, and all moves worsen their position.Mates
Checkmate1,274,450
Win the game with style.Mate in 1549,362
Deliver checkmate in one move.Mate in 2563,583
Deliver checkmate in two moves.Mate in 3137,277
Deliver checkmate in three moves.Mate in 419,892
Deliver checkmate in four moves.Mate in 5 or more4,336
Figure out a long mating sequence.Anastasia's mate4,999
A knight and rook or queen team up to trap the opposing king between the side of the board and a friendly piece.Arabian mate4,904
A knight and a rook team up to trap the opposing king on a corner of the board.Back rank mate146,892
Checkmate the king on the home rank, when it is trapped there by its own pieces.Boden's mate2,245
Two attacking bishops on criss-crossing diagonals deliver mate to a king obstructed by friendly pieces.Double bishop mate2,258
Two attacking bishops on adjacent diagonals deliver mate to a king obstructed by friendly pieces.Dovetail mate2,613
A queen delivers mate to an adjacent king, whose only two escape squares are obstructed by friendly pieces.Hook mate7,075
Checkmate with a rook, knight, and pawn along with one enemy pawn to limit the enemy king's escape.Kill box mate3,672
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".Smothered mate15,343
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
Castling2,248
Bring the king to safety, and deploy the rook for attack.En passant6,701
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.Promotion102,236
Promote one of your pawn to a queen or minor piece.Underpromotion847
Promotion to a knight, bishop, or rook.Goals
Equality43,013
Come back from a losing position, and secure a draw or a balanced position. (eval ≤ 200cp)Advantage1,402,462
Seize your chance to get a decisive advantage. (200cp ≤ eval ≤ 600cp)Crushing1,900,432
Spot the opponent blunder to obtain a crushing advantage. (eval ≥ 600cp)Checkmate1,274,450
Win the game with style.Lengths
One-move puzzle596,622
A puzzle that is only one move long.Short puzzle2,492,666
Two moves to win.Long puzzle1,161,500
Three moves to win.Very long puzzle369,572
Four moves or more to win.Origin
Master games650,338
Puzzles from games played by titled players.Master vs Master games67,840
Puzzles from games between two titled players.Super GM games2,876
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.