Puzzle themes
Recommended
Phases
Opening220,503
A tactic during the first phase of the game.Middlegame1,881,996
A tactic during the second phase of the game.Endgame1,834,463
A tactic during the last phase of the game.Rook endgame187,292
An endgame with only rooks and pawns.Bishop endgame46,923
An endgame with only bishops and pawns.Pawn endgame115,131
An endgame with only pawns.Knight endgame29,764
An endgame with only knights and pawns.Queen endgame37,378
An endgame with only queens and pawns.Queen and Rook25,973
An endgame with only queens, rooks and pawns.By game openingMore »
Sicilian Defense142,621
French Defense58,887
Queen's Pawn Game51,203
Italian Game50,704
Caro-Kann Defense44,386
Scandinavian Defense35,516
Queen's Gambit Declined34,419
English Opening28,836
Ruy Lopez28,722
Indian Defense24,558
Scotch Game24,424
Russian Game19,721
Motifs
Advanced pawn217,464
One of your pawns is deep into the opponent position, maybe threatening to promote.Attacking f2 or f723,593
An attack focusing on the f2 or f7 pawn, such as in the fried liver opening.Capture the defender32,408
Removing a piece that is critical to defence of another piece, allowing the now undefended piece to be captured on a following move.Discovered attack219,995
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 check18,971
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 king107,821
A tactic involving a king with few defenders around it, often leading to checkmate.Fork558,397
A move where the moved piece attacks two opponent pieces at once.Hanging piece168,068
A tactic involving an opponent piece being undefended or insufficiently defended and free to capture.Kingside attack307,108
An attack of the opponent's king, after they castled on the king side.Pin248,755
A tactic involving pins, where a piece is unable to move without revealing an attack on a higher value piece.Queenside attack52,854
An attack of the opponent's king, after they castled on the queen side.Sacrifice277,478
A tactic involving giving up material in the short-term, to gain an advantage again after a forced sequence of moves.Skewer87,149
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 piece55,986
A piece is unable to escape capture as it has limited moves.Advanced
Attraction133,940
An exchange or sacrifice encouraging or forcing an opponent piece to a square that allows a follow-up tactic.Clearance52,950
A move, often with tempo, that clears a square, file or diagonal for a follow-up tactical idea.Defensive move238,333
A precise move or sequence of moves that is needed to avoid losing material or another advantage.Deflection165,713
A move that distracts an opponent piece from another duty that it performs, such as guarding a key square. Sometimes also called "overloading".Interference15,486
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.Intermezzo54,923
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 move154,197
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 attack13,319
A piece attacks or defends a square, through an enemy piece.Zugzwang32,966
The opponent is limited in the moves they can make, and all moves worsen their position.Mates
Checkmate996,081
Win the game with style.Mate in 1400,218
Deliver checkmate in one move.Mate in 2462,635
Deliver checkmate in two moves.Mate in 3113,295
Deliver checkmate in three moves.Mate in 416,346
Deliver checkmate in four moves.Mate in 5 or more3,587
Figure out a long mating sequence.Anastasia's mate4,004
A knight and rook or queen team up to trap the opposing king between the side of the board and a friendly piece.Arabian mate3,898
A knight and a rook team up to trap the opposing king on a corner of the board.Back rank mate121,543
Checkmate the king on the home rank, when it is trapped there by its own pieces.Boden's mate1,622
Two attacking bishops on criss-crossing diagonals deliver mate to a king obstructed by friendly pieces.Double bishop mate1,693
Two attacking bishops on adjacent diagonals deliver mate to a king obstructed by friendly pieces.Dovetail mate1,992
A queen delivers mate to an adjacent king, whose only two escape squares are obstructed by friendly pieces.Hook mate5,580
Checkmate with a rook, knight, and pawn along with one enemy pawn to limit the enemy king's escape.Smothered mate11,487
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
Castling2,058
Bring the king to safety, and deploy the rook for attack.En passant5,721
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.Promotion82,344
Promote one of your pawn to a queen or minor piece.Underpromotion717
Promotion to a knight, bishop, or rook.Goals
Equality43,008
Come back from a losing position, and secure a draw or a balanced position. (eval ≤ 200cp)Advantage1,176,598
Seize your chance to get a decisive advantage. (200cp ≤ eval ≤ 600cp)Crushing1,693,320
Spot the opponent blunder to obtain a crushing advantage. (eval ≥ 600cp)Checkmate996,081
Win the game with style.Lengths
One-move puzzle447,478
A puzzle that is only one move long.Short puzzle2,179,314
Two moves to win.Long puzzle970,889
Three moves to win.Very long puzzle311,329
Four moves or more to win.Origin
Master games272,805
Puzzles from games played by titled players.Master vs Master games25,379
Puzzles from games between two titled players.Super GM games2,344
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.