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Knight endgame tactics Puzzles: Advanced Level

Real puzzles from rated games · median rating 2315 · solved 16,597,871 times

Difficulty 2000+

These are knight endgame tactics puzzles rated 2000+, the Advanced level on this site. They come from real rated games: 18,293 puzzles, median rating 2315, solved 16,597,871 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 knight endgame tactics puzzles Print a worksheet

By the numbers

knight endgame tactics puzzles at advanced level: the numbers

There are 18,293 knight endgame tactics puzzles at advanced level, solved 16,597,871 times in total. The median rating is 2315.

Often combined with

Endgame tactics · 18,293Defensive move · 7,344Advanced pawn · 5,511Quiet move · 4,786Promotion · 1,657Exposed king · 1,056Zugzwang · 904Sacrifice · 772

Counts computed from the full puzzle set.

How the solutions work · counted by a rules engine

What a typical knight endgame tactics solution looks like

Sample: 2,000 knight endgame tactics puzzles at advanced level (10.9% of all 18,293).

29.4% need 2 solver moves, 39.9% need 3 solver moves, 18% need 4 solver moves, 12.7% need 5 or more solver moves. Median rating: 2241 for the shortest solutions, 2511 for the longest.

40.1% open with a pawn move. The first move captures in 23.9% and gives check in 14.2%; 0.9% end in checkmate, 4.8% involve a sacrifice, 50.8% have White to move.

23.9%first move captures
14.2%first move gives check
0.9%end in checkmate
4.8%involve a sacrifice

How many moves does the solver need?

2 solver moves
29.4% · median rating 2241
3 solver moves
39.9% · median rating 2304
4 solver moves
18% · median rating 2357
5+ solver moves
12.7% · median rating 2511

Which piece plays the key move?

Key move by a pawn
40.1%
Key move by the king
31.4%
Key move by a knight
28.4%

What does the solver win?

Captures nothing along the line
47.2%
Most valuable capture: knight
25.9%
Most valuable capture: pawn
25.5%
Most valuable capture: queen
1.2%

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)
64%
Up to 2 pawns’ worth
24.1%
3–4 points (about a minor piece)
10.4%
5–8 points (a rook or more)
0.6%
9 or more points (a queen’s worth)
1%

How much is left on the board?

28 or more pieces on the board
0%
21–27 pieces
0%
13–20 pieces
14.6%
12 pieces or fewer
85.4%

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: f6 (5.4%), f5 (4.3%), g6 (4.2%), c6 (4.1%), c5 (3.9%).

8
1.21.71.52.121.81.51.57
2.93.64.13.53.65.44.22.86
2.43.33.93.83.94.33.42.55
1.61.82.72.33.23.11.81.44
1.33
2
1
abcdefgh

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

Study positions

The most-solved knight 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 2010 · solved 542 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: c5

Solution: b5 → axb5 → a6

♟
♙♙
♚♙♔
♞
White to move · rating 2046 · solved 656 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Ne1

Solution: g5 → Nxf3 → g6

♞
♙♟
♚♟
♟♘♔
♙♙
♙
Black to move · rating 2084 · solved 910 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kf5

Solution: Ne7+ → Kf4 → g5+ → Kf3 → Kxe5

♚♘♟
♙♞♟♔♟
♙
White to move · rating 2156 · solved 532 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Nxc5

Solution: Nxc5 → Kxc5 → a6 → Kb6 → Kxd5

♟
♙♚
♙♟
♞♔♟
♘♙
Black to move · rating 2156 · solved 526 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Nc3

Solution: Nxc3 → Kxc3 → f4 → Kd2 → f3

♟♟♟
♟♚♞
♙♟
♙♟♘♙
♙♙
♙♔
Black to move · rating 2164 · solved 488 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Nf4

Solution: Nxf4+ → gxf4 → Ke6 → Kf3 → Kf5

♟
♚♘
♟
♟♟
♔♙
♙
Black to move · rating 2201 · solved 408 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Nxh6

Solution: c3 → g4 → d4+ → Kxd4 → c2

♟♟
♔♙
♙
♘♚
♞
Black to move · rating 2222 · solved 589 times · 4 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: g5

Solution: Nxd3 → gxh6 → Nxf4+ → Ke4 → Kg4 → h7 → Ng6

♟
♟♟
♟♚
♙♘
♔
White to move · rating 2228 · solved 474 times · Mate in 3.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: f5

Solution: Kg1 → g3 → f3 → d2 → Nf4#

♘
♟♟♙
♚♔
♙
Black to move · rating 2253 · solved 474 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Nxf6

Solution: b3 → axb3 → axb3 → Nd5 → b2

♟
♚
♙♔♙
♟
♟♙
♘♞
White to move · rating 2375 · solved 548 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: b3

Solution: Kf6 → Ne3 → Kxf7

♘♟♙♚
♟♞♔♙
♟
White to move · rating 2552 · solved 435 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kg6

Solution: f7 → Kg7 → g6

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

Knight endgame tactics puzzles by difficulty

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