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Knight endgame tactics Puzzles: Developing Level

Real puzzles from rated games · median rating 1405 · solved 28,603,250 times

Difficulty 1200–1599

These are knight endgame tactics puzzles rated 1200–1599, the Developing level on this site. They come from real rated games: 9,565 puzzles, median rating 1405, solved 28,603,250 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 developing level: the numbers

There are 9,565 knight endgame tactics puzzles at developing level, solved 28,603,250 times in total. The median rating is 1405.

Often combined with

Endgame tactics · 9,565Advanced pawn · 3,414Defensive move · 1,537Promotion · 1,307Quiet move · 966Deflection · 952Checkmate · 447Hanging piece · 441

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 developing level (20.9% of all 9,565).

3% need 1 solver move, 57.6% need 2 solver moves, 32.1% need 3 solver moves, 6% need 4 solver moves, 1.2% need 5 or more solver moves. Median rating: 1382 for the shortest solutions, 1480 for the longest.

45.2% open with a pawn move. The first move captures in 24.2% and gives check in 33%; 4.8% end in checkmate, 9.4% involve a sacrifice, 50.8% have White to move.

24.2%first move captures
33%first move gives check
4.8%end in checkmate
9.4%involve a sacrifice

How many moves does the solver need?

1 solver move
3% · median rating 1382
2 solver moves
57.6% · median rating 1397
3 solver moves
32.1% · median rating 1400
4 solver moves
6% · median rating 1425
5+ solver moves
1.2% · median rating 1480

Which piece plays the key move?

Key move by a pawn
45.2%
Key move by a knight
36.1%
Key move by the king
18.7%

What does the solver win?

Captures nothing along the line
43.1%
Most valuable capture: knight
35.8%
Most valuable capture: pawn
19.2%
Most valuable capture: queen
1.4%
Most valuable capture: rook
0.5%

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)
57.2%
Up to 2 pawns’ worth
22.4%
3–4 points (about a minor piece)
18.4%
5–8 points (a rook or more)
0.8%
9 or more points (a queen’s worth)
1.3%

How much is left on the board?

28 or more pieces on the board
0%
21–27 pieces
0%
13–20 pieces
18.8%
12 pieces or fewer
81.2%

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: f4 (4.3%), b6 (4.3%), d6 (4.3%), g6 (4.1%), c6 (3.8%).

8
1.81.81.91.71.92.121.67
3.74.33.84.33.73.34.13.46
3.22.93.53.63.63.62.82.85
1.132.73.44.31.51.24
1.31.31.81.33
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 1221 · solved 2,397 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Ne4+

Solution: Nxe4 → Kxe4 → d6 → Kd3 → d7

♟♟
♞♚♟♟
♘
♙♔♙
♙♙
Black to move · rating 1268 · solved 3,786 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Nd4

Solution: f4+ → gxf4 → gxf4+ → Kxf4 → Kxd4

♟
♟
♚♟♟♟
♙♙♞
♙♙♔♙♙
♙
White to move · rating 1285 · solved 3,145 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Nd4

Solution: f4+ → Kf6 → Kxd4 → gxf4 → gxf4

♙♞
♘♚♙♔
♙
♟
Black to move · rating 1291 · solved 4,246 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: a7

Solution: d2 → g7 → d1=Q

♟
♚♟
♘
♙♞♙♔♙
♙
Black to move · rating 1316 · solved 3,610 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: h4

Solution: h5+ → Kh3 → Kxf5 → g4+ → hxg4+

♟♟
♞♟♟
♘♚♙
♙♙
♔♙
White to move · rating 1375 · solved 3,369 times · Mate in 2.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Na5

Solution: Nd3+ → Ke4 → f3#

♙♞
♔♟
♚♟♟
♙
♙♙
White to move · rating 1400 · solved 2,312 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kd4

Solution: Kxh5 → e3 → fxe3+ → Kxe3 → Kxg4

♚
♙♟
♔♞
♘
♟
White to move · rating 1409 · solved 3,382 times · Mate in 1.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: h3

Solution: Nb6#

♔
♘♟♞♙
♚
White to move · rating 1417 · solved 3,299 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: e5

Solution: h6 → e4 → Nxe4 → Nxe4 → h7

♙♚
♔♟♙
♘
♟
Black to move · rating 1440 · solved 2,996 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Nxf4

Solution: f2 → b8=R → Kxb8 → g6 → f1=Q

♟
♟♚
♞
♙♔♘
♙
White to move · rating 1466 · solved 3,898 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Nc5

Solution: a5+ → Kxa5 → Kxc5

♙♟
♚♔♞
♟♘
White to move · rating 1520 · solved 4,277 times · 4 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: b4

Solution: Ne6+ → Nxe6 → Kxe6 → b3 → f7 → b2 → 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

Knight endgame tactics puzzles by difficulty

Advanced levelChallenging level