Everything You Need to Know About Chess Puzzles
If you’ve been playing chess for a while, you’re bound to have come across chess puzzles. But what are the different types of chess puzzles, and how do they work?
Many people think that chess puzzles are simply a fun way to pass the time. But many types of chess puzzles are also designed to hone the tactical skills that might just win you your next game!
Here, we’ll explore the various kinds of chess puzzles, how they can improve your game, and where you can find the ultimate repository of chess tests to puzzle over!
What are Chess Puzzles?
Chess puzzles are problem-solving exercises to complete on a chessboard, usually (but not always!) using the regular rules of a chess game.
A typical chess puzzle challenges the problem solver to fulfill a task in a given number of moves. The classic example would be ‘checkmate in two moves’. But the scope of chess puzzle tasks are endless! Some puzzles even break the rules of normal chess – confounding normal logic and reasoning!
Some people like to solve chess puzzles in the same way as sudoku or crossword puzzles – a gentle cerebral work out to pass the time. Yet others use chess puzzles as a serious school to train their tactical prowess.
By training the mind to spot frequently recurring patterns and how best to solve them, chess puzzles can help chess players find the winning moves in their next match. An ingenious way to train the mind and elevate your chess game!
Types of Chess Puzzle
Chess Problems
Chess problems are a specific type of chess puzzle where the position is ‘crafted’ by a composer – the puzzle isn’t derived from a real game. These often involve an extremely novel position, one that would be extremely unlikely to reach in a real game!
The fun of chess problems is that the composer has no limits to the position that’s crafted. The possibilities are endless - so brilliant and bizarre chess puzzles will continue to be created for as long as people continue to play chess!
While most chess problems revolve around how to checkmate the opponent, other times, the problem might be how to win a queen, promote a pawn, or force a draw.
Chess problems often demand that the problem solver use counterintuitive logic. You might even have to turn your mind inside out to find the solution! The following chess problem is a good example:
Chess Problem Example
Note how this position is intriguing and legal, yet very unlikely – typical of a crafted chess problem. Remember that the composer may throw in surplus pieces to baffle you!
Puzzle 1: White to move. Checkmate in one. Can you find the winning move? Try your best before scrolling down for a hint...
Hint: Remember pawns can be promoted into any piece! Scroll down to the end of the article for the answer.
Retrograde Analysis Puzzles (Retros)
Retrograde analysis puzzles (aka. ‘Retros’) are a curious type of chess problem where one must determine the moves played leading up to a given position. Because the answer must be without any other explanation, these puzzles are also sometimes referred to as ‘proof analysis’.
Retros can also be combined with a conventional problem to solve in the subsequent moves – effectively providing two puzzles in one (e.g. ‘What was Black’s last move and ‘How can White force a draw in two moves?’).
Retro chess puzzles tend to be cleverly crafted rather than coming from real games. They often demand deep inquiry and require the problem solver to think laterally. In some scenarios, a pawn has been promoted into an unlikely piece or an en passant capture has just occurred.
Sometimes, retro puzzles will simply ask you to determine whether the position could have been reached legally or not. This genre of chess problem can be extremely tricky to solve!
Retrograde Puzzle Example
Here is a classic retrograde analysis puzzle.
Puzzle 2: On the last turn, White's king moved. But which square did it move from? Warning: this one is slightly absurd and not so easy!
Hint: Remember that the king might have just captured one of Black's pieces!
Tactical Puzzles
In contrast to fictional chess problems, tactical puzzles are positions that could easily arise in a chess game. Many are indeed taken from real chess matches - often from grandmaster games where one player found a brilliant move.
While crafted chess problems can be a fun way to make you think outside the box, tactical puzzles are chiefly intended to improve tactical problem-solving. These kinds of puzzles are regularly used by chess coaches to improve their student’s game!
Because they’re primarily designed to improve chess tactics, chess tactical puzzles aren’t always as spectacular or mind-boggling as chess problems. The purpose is to hone your chess strategies rather than entertain you.
For example, a tactical puzzle might ask you to find the classic ‘mate in two moves’ – but you're equally likely be challenged to find the best way to win a pawn advantage in the end game, or find a winning fork in the opening.
Opening Tactical Puzzles
Tactical puzzles arising from common opening positions are a great way to train finding winning strategies early on in the game. By repeating these puzzles, certain patterns can be recognized much faster, meaning you’re less likely to miss the chance to capitalize on golden opportunities as they arise!
Opening Tactical Puzzle Example
Puzzle 3: Taken from a notorious trap in ‘Tennison’s Gambit’, how can White win a queen in three moves?
Hint: Remember that f7 is often Black's most vulnerable square...
Middle Game Tactical Puzzles
Middle-game tactics are sometimes neglected in chess training – but there could be no greater mistake! The middle game is often the most decisive part of the game. Even if an endgame is reached, it’s usually an advantage won in the opening or middle game that ultimately decides the outcome.
Middle-game tactical puzzles are all about spotting patterns and utilizing the perfect chess strategy to find the winning move.
Middle Game Tactical Puzzle Example
The position below highlights a common theme where each side has castled on opposite sides of the board and the g-file is semi-open.
Puzzle 4: White to move. How can White open up the enemy fort and win material in the next two moves?
Hint: Pinned pawns can easily prove treacherous in the middle game!
End Game Tactical Puzzles
The most common phase of the game for beginners to slip up is in the endgame. Even at the highest level of chess, end-game mistakes are often where games are squandered. Take the final World Championship match between Ding Liren and Gukesh Dommaraju, for instance, where Liren’s blunder cost him the title!
But end games take a long time to get to! Instead of only practicing end games when they arise in chess matches, savvy chess players train their end game skills with specially selected chess puzzles. The best moves to find when the last few pieces remain can be surprisingly hard to find! The following scenario is a good example.
End Game Puzzle Example
This puzzle highlights the formidable danger of advanced pawns in the end game.
Puzzle 5: Black can force pawn promotion in four moves, but how? See if you can find the right sequence.
Specific Tactic Training
Sometimes, a series of chess puzzles may help a player to more readily spot specific tactics such as a fork, skewer, or discovered check. Because these deadly tactics can be used during the opening, middle game, or end game, it’s always a good idea to become sharper at finding them!
Other tactics that chess puzzles can improve include: ‘Capture the Defender’, ‘Double Check’, ‘Sacrifice’, and ‘Trap the Piece’.
Specific Tactic Puzzle Example: Discovered Attack
How many times have you won a game from a discovered attack? As one of the most lethal weapons in chess, it’s well worth improving your ability to spot them!
Puzzle 6: Black can turn the game around on the next move with a discovered attack. Can you see how?
Hint: Remember that knights are the most useful piece for forcing the enemy king to move!
Chess Puzzle Resources - On Screen and On Paper
Years ago, many chess players relied on newspapers and magazines to provide them with daily or weekly chess puzzles. Since the digital revolution, however, chess apps have become by far the most popular place to solve puzzles.
The world’s most popular chess app, chess.com, offers a fun puzzle feature that sets the difficulty level depending on your ability to solve them. ‘Puzzle Rush’ and ‘Puzzle Battle’ features also challenge you to complete puzzles at an ever faster rate. Do note, however, that chess.com puzzles are limited without a paid subscription.
If you’re looking for a free app, the exceptional open source lichess.org uses AI to generate puzzles from the billions of games played on its popular app. Chesstempo.com is perhaps the most highly regarded app for puzzles, although you’ll need a paid subscription to unlock all of its features.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to spend hours staring at a screen, USCF Sales offers a huge selection of chess puzzle books for chess players of all levels. Many of these feature chapters to train specific chess skills. Insightful commentary from chess masters helps coach you in a way that many find superior to even the best apps.
Conclusion
Chess puzzles have something to offer every chess player. Whether you’re looking for the next mind-bending chess problem to turn your brain inside out, or are seeking out tactical puzzles to take your chess skills to new heights, the perfect types of chess tests are out there for you to enjoy!
If you’re fairly new to chess, establishing a firm understanding of fundamental chess tactics will boost your puzzle solving skills to no end. For that purpose, we’ve created this dedicated guide.
Chess Puzzle Solutions
Remember how we promised the puzzle solutions at the end? Here they are:
Puzzle 1: a8=N# - White turns its pawn into a knight, checkmating Black's king upon promotion!
Puzzle 2: The king moved from e6. On the previous turn, Black must have had a third rook on f5 and played ...Re5! This is a feasible position in a real game! See image below.
Puzzle 3: 1.Nxf7 Kxf7 2.Bg6 Kxg6 3.Qxd8. While teasing away the queen's sole defender, White snatches her up with a discovered attack!
Puzzle 4: Bh6 g6 Bxf8. White trades a bishop for a rook in this classic maneuver.
Puzzle 5: 1.d7 Kd8 2.Kf7 Rb4 3.e7 Kxd7 4.e8
Puzzle 6: 1.Ne7+ 2.Kh7 Rxf8. By forcing Black's king to move with a discovered attack, White removes the enemy rook's only defender!