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Endgame tactics Puzzles: Foundation Level

Real puzzles from rated games · median rating 943 · solved 835,777,748 times

Difficulty 600–1199

These are endgame tactics puzzles rated 600–1199, the Foundation level on this site. They come from real rated games: 1,211,811 puzzles, median rating 943, solved 835,777,748 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.

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By the numbers

endgame tactics puzzles at foundation level: the numbers

There are 1,211,811 endgame tactics puzzles at foundation level, solved 835,777,748 times in total. The median rating is 943.

Often combined with

Checkmate · 648,806Mate in 2 · 318,090Mate in 1 · 280,502Fork · 202,477Back-rank mate · 130,488Rook endgame tactics · 129,920Advanced pawn · 82,344Skewer · 51,641

Which openings produce them?

Sicilian Defence · 1,186Italian Game · 720Scotch Game · 685Scandinavian Defense · 670Ruy Lopez · 653French Defence · 541Queen's Pawn Game · 513Four Knights Game · 411

Counts computed from the full puzzle set.

How the solutions work · counted by a rules engine

What a typical endgame tactics solution looks like

Sample: 2,000 endgame tactics puzzles at foundation level (0.2% of all 1,211,811).

22.8% need 1 solver move, 62% need 2 solver moves, 13.4% need 3 solver moves, 1.6% need 4 solver moves. Median rating: 827 for the shortest solutions, 1096 for the longest.

41.7% open with a rook move. The first move captures in 26.4% and gives check in 86.2%; 53.6% end in checkmate, 11.9% involve a sacrifice, 50.4% have White to move.

26.4%first move captures
86.2%first move gives check
53.6%end in checkmate
11.9%involve a sacrifice

How many moves does the solver need?

1 solver move
22.8% · median rating 827
2 solver moves
62% · median rating 941
3 solver moves
13.4% · median rating 1043
4 solver moves
1.6% · median rating 1096

Which piece plays the key move?

Key move by a rook
41.7%
Key move by a queen
25.9%
Key move by a knight
13.8%
Key move by a pawn
9%
Key move by a bishop
6.2%
Key move by the king
3.5%

What does the solver win?

Most valuable capture: rook
39.7%
Captures nothing along the line
26.2%
Most valuable capture: queen
13.8%
Most valuable capture: pawn
9.4%
Most valuable capture: bishop
7.5%
Most valuable capture: knight
3.4%

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)
35.4%
Up to 2 pawns’ worth
10.3%
3–4 points (about a minor piece)
14.6%
5–8 points (a rook or more)
30.8%
9 or more points (a queen’s worth)
9%

How much is left on the board?

28 or more pieces on the board
0%
21–27 pieces
2.4%
13–20 pieces
66.5%
12 pieces or fewer
31%

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: e8 (8.4%), d8 (7.5%), c8 (5.4%), f7 (5.3%), f8 (4.9%).

3.83.65.47.58.44.91.72.78
1.51.83.45.33.337
1.41.62.6321.96
1.72.11.81.92.11.85
1.211.71.81.31.54
3
2
1
abcdefgh

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

Study positions

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

♙
♚
♔♟
♟
♙
White to move · rating 624 · solved 15,788 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: f3

Solution: b7 → f2 → b8=Q+

♜♚
♖♝
♟♙♙♟
♟♞
♟
♙♗♙
♟♙
♖♔
Black to move · rating 856 · solved 22,570 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rf7

Solution: Ng3+ → Kg2 → Nxf1

♚
♟♘
♟♔♙
♙
♜
White to move · rating 915 · solved 16,098 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rf2

Solution: Nh6+ → Kf8 → g7+

♕
♟♟♚
♛♟♟
♙
♙
♙
♖♔♙
♜
White to move · rating 1040 · solved 15,541 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kh7

Solution: Qc2+ → Kg8 → Qxd1

♟
♚♙
♟♜♟♙
♖♔♙
Black to move · rating 1061 · solved 15,860 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kd2

Solution: Rc2+ → Rxc2 → bxc2

♜♚
♟♗♟
♕♟
♛
♟♔♙
♙
♙♙
White to move · rating 1116 · solved 15,658 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Qc5

Solution: Qf6+ → Kg8 → Bd5+ → Qxd5+ → Kxd5

♜
♖♔
♚
Black to move · rating 1121 · solved 16,684 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kh3

Solution: Rh6+ → Kg4 → Rg6+ → Kf5 → Rxg3

♗
♟
♟
♟
♔♙♚
Black to move · rating 1127 · solved 15,687 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Ke2

Solution: Kg2 → Ke3 → h2

♚
♜
♟♟♟
♟♘
♙♙♔
♙
♕♖
♜♛
White to move · rating 1131 · solved 15,716 times · Mate in 2.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: g6

Solution: Rd8+ → Kh7 → Qg8#

♚
♟♟
♕♟♜♟
♛
♙♝
♙♙
♙♙♙
♖♔
White to move · rating 1143 · solved 15,847 times · Mate in 1.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Qxe5

Solution: Qb7#

♜♚
♜♟♟
♟♟
♟♟
♙
♙♙♙♛
♙♕♙
♖♔
White to move · rating 1165 · solved 16,829 times · Mate in 2.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rxb8

Solution: Qh6+ → Kg8 → Rxb8#

♜
♔
♙
♟
♚♟
White to move · rating 1167 · solved 15,950 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Rxg8

Solution: Kxg8 → g3 → f7 → g2 → f8=Q+

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

Endgame tactics puzzles by difficulty

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