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Discovered attack Puzzles: Foundation Level

Real puzzles from rated games · median rating 1041 · solved 100,711,782 times

Difficulty 600–1199

These are discovered attack puzzles rated 600–1199, the Foundation level on this site. They come from real rated games: 89,937 puzzles, median rating 1041, solved 100,711,782 times. The twelve below are among the most-solved of them; try each on the board, then read the numbers further down to see how solutions at this level are built.

All discovered attack puzzles Print a worksheet

By the numbers

discovered attack puzzles at foundation level: the numbers

There are 89,937 discovered attack puzzles at foundation level, solved 100,711,782 times in total. The median rating is 1041.

Often combined with

Middlegame tactics · 49,111Endgame tactics · 34,471Kingside attack · 20,661Discovered check · 15,061Checkmate · 8,610Mate in 2 · 6,728Opening tactics · 6,355Deflection · 4,127Fork · 4,047

Which openings produce them?

Sicilian Defence · 4,420French Defence · 2,385Queen's Pawn Game · 1,817Caro–Kann Defence · 1,669Italian Game · 1,434Scandinavian Defense · 1,351Queen's Gambit Declined · 1,319Scotch Game · 1,092

Counts computed from the full puzzle set.

How the solutions work · counted by a rules engine

What a typical discovered attack solution looks like

Sample: 2,000 discovered attack puzzles at foundation level (2.2% of all 89,937).

86% need 2 solver moves, 13.2% need 3 solver moves. Median rating: 1039 for the shortest solutions, 1098 for the longest.

38.5% open with a bishop move. The first move captures in 45.6% and gives check in 91.2%; 9.8% end in checkmate, 49.4% involve a sacrifice, 52.6% have White to move.

45.6%first move captures
91.2%first move gives check
9.8%end in checkmate
49.4%involve a sacrifice

How many moves does the solver need?

2 solver moves
86% · median rating 1039
3 solver moves
13.2% · median rating 1098

Which piece plays the key move?

Key move by a bishop
38.5%
Key move by a knight
33.2%
Key move by a pawn
11.6%
Key move by a rook
11.4%
Key move by a queen
4.4%
Key move by the king
0.9%

What does the solver win?

Most valuable capture: queen
51%
Most valuable capture: rook
32.5%
Most valuable capture: bishop
6.1%
Most valuable capture: knight
5.6%
Most valuable capture: pawn
3.7%
Captures nothing along the line
1%

Material balance along the whole line, counting every capture by both sides (pawn 1, minor piece 3, rook 5, queen 9):

No material gained (mating or positional)
4.2%
Up to 2 pawns’ worth
10.8%
3–4 points (about a minor piece)
22.1%
5–8 points (a rook or more)
49.2%
9 or more points (a queen’s worth)
13.6%

How much is left on the board?

28 or more pieces on the board
6.5%
21–27 pieces
46.3%
13–20 pieces
40.8%
12 pieces or fewer
6.4%

How it is counted: every puzzle in the sample is replayed move by move with a chess rules engine. A sacrifice means a piece that is captured on the very next ply and was worth more than what it captured itself (pawn 1, minor piece 3, rook 5, queen 9). Sample of 2,000 puzzles. Percentages are shares of the sample.

Where it happens

Where the key move lands

Where the solver’s first move ends, drawn from their own side (rank 1 is their back rank). Busiest squares: h7 (16%), f6 (15.7%), f7 (6.9%), g6 (4%), e6 (3.8%).

1.11.51.71.78
1.31.53.66.93167
2.133.815.743.16
2.32.12.63.22.42.55
2.11.91.4114
3
2
1
abcdefgh

Counted from the same 2,000-puzzle sample. Squares under 1% are left blank.

Study positions

The most-solved discovered attack puzzles, from each difficulty level. Play each one on the board, then open the answer for the full line.

♚♜
♟♟♟
♟♞♟
♙
♙
♙♖♗♛
♙♔♙
♖♘
White to move · rating 877 · solved 2,748 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Qxh3

Solution: Bxc7+ → Kxc7 → Rxh3

♜♚
♟♟♟
♟♟
♙
♛♙
♙
♙♝♕♗♙
♖♔
Black to move · rating 1027 · solved 9,631 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Qxe2

Solution: Bd4+ → Kh1 → Qxb1+

♖
♟♟♚
♟♞
♟
♙
♔♙♘
♙♙♜
White to move · rating 1041 · solved 4,017 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rf2

Solution: Ne5+ → Ke6 → Rxf2

♟♟♟♚
♟♟♟
♞♛
♙
♙♜♙
♕♙♙
♖♖♔
Black to move · rating 1066 · solved 7,546 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rad1

Solution: Rxh3+ → gxh3 → Qxc2

♜♝♕♝♜
♟♟♞♚♟
♟♞♟
♟
♙
♙♙♙♙♙
♖♘♗♖♔
Black to move · rating 1083 · solved 2,869 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: f4

Solution: Bc5+ → Kh1 → Rxd8

♚
♜♛♟
♕♟
♞♙
♗♝♙
♙♗
♖♔
Black to move · rating 1125 · solved 6,891 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Qxd5

Solution: Nf2+ → Kg1 → Nxd3+

♟♟♚
♝♟
♛
♘♙
♙♔♕
♙
White to move · rating 1171 · solved 3,557 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Qxd5

Solution: Nf6+ → gxf6 → Qxd5

♜♚♝♞♜
♟♟♟♝♛♟♟
♟
♙♞
♟
♕♙♗♘
♙♙♙♙♙
♖♘♗♖♔
Black to move · rating 1174 · solved 3,434 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Qb3

Solution: Nxf3+ → gxf3 → Qxe1+

♟♕♟♚
♝♜♛♟
♟♟
♙♙
♘♙
♙♙
♖♔
White to move · rating 1175 · solved 3,156 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Qe6

Solution: Nxg5+ → hxg5 → Rxf7+ → Qxf7 → Qxf7+

♝♟
♗♚♜
♙♟
♙
♖♔
Black to move · rating 1177 · solved 2,907 times · Mate in 3.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: axb4

Solution: Rh5+ → Kg1 → d3+ → Kf1 → Rh1#

♜♝♛♜♚
♝
♟♟♟
♟♙♟♘
♟♙
♙♙♕
♗♙♙
♖♔
White to move · rating 1178 · solved 3,619 times · Mate in 2.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: hxg6

Solution: Nf6+ → Kg7 → Qh7#

♜♚
♟♟♖♟
♕♙
♟♛♟
♙♙♙♔♙
White to move · rating 1196 · solved 2,848 times · Mate in 2.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Qf5

Solution: Rg7+ → Kh8 → Qxf8#

Positions and move sequences come from real rated games (CC0 data). Engine evaluations, where shown, are stored evaluations of the position (CC0).

Same theme, other levels

Discovered attack puzzles by difficulty

Advanced levelChallenging levelDeveloping level