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Pawn endgame tactics Puzzles: Advanced Level

Real puzzles from rated games · median rating 2321 · solved 88,031,504 times

Difficulty 2000+

These are pawn endgame tactics puzzles rated 2000+, the Advanced level on this site. They come from real rated games: 88,522 puzzles, median rating 2321, solved 88,031,504 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 pawn endgame tactics puzzles Print a worksheet

By the numbers

pawn endgame tactics puzzles at advanced level: the numbers

There are 88,522 pawn endgame tactics puzzles at advanced level, solved 88,031,504 times in total. The median rating is 2321.

Often combined with

Endgame tactics · 88,522Quiet move · 31,533Defensive move · 29,992Zugzwang · 22,933Advanced pawn · 8,645Promotion · 4,602Deflection · 2,400Sacrifice · 982

Counts computed from the full puzzle set.

How the solutions work · counted by a rules engine

What a typical pawn endgame tactics solution looks like

Sample: 2,000 pawn endgame tactics puzzles at advanced level (2.3% of all 88,522).

23.3% need 2 solver moves, 39% need 3 solver moves, 19% need 4 solver moves, 18.8% need 5 or more solver moves. Median rating: 2238 for the shortest solutions, 2438 for the longest.

64.4% open with a pawn move. The first move captures in 28.7% and gives check in 8%; 0% end in checkmate, 0.2% involve a sacrifice, 49.2% have White to move.

28.7%first move captures
8%first move gives check
0%end in checkmate
0.2%involve a sacrifice

How many moves does the solver need?

2 solver moves
23.3% · median rating 2238
3 solver moves
39% · median rating 2315
4 solver moves
19% · median rating 2354
5+ solver moves
18.8% · median rating 2438

Which piece plays the key move?

Key move by a pawn
64.4%
Key move by the king
35.6%

What does the solver win?

Most valuable capture: pawn
69.2%
Captures nothing along the line
28.6%
Most valuable capture: queen
1.6%
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)
61.8%
Up to 2 pawns’ worth
35.8%
3–4 points (about a minor piece)
0.5%
5–8 points (a rook or more)
0.5%
9 or more points (a queen’s worth)
1.4%

How much is left on the board?

28 or more pieces on the board
0%
21–27 pieces
0%
13–20 pieces
20.6%
12 pieces or fewer
79.4%

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: g4 (7.5%), h5 (6.2%), f4 (5.9%), f5 (5.5%), h4 (5.4%).

8
7
1.112.21.46
45.34.74.14.15.55.16.25
3.353.63.64.25.97.55.44
1.21.51.41.21.81.43
2
1
abcdefgh

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

Study positions

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

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Black to move · rating 2020 · solved 638 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Ka5

Solution: Kd6 → Kb4 → Kc6

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♟♟
♟
♙♟
♔
♟♙
♙♙
White to move · rating 2065 · solved 722 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: c3

Solution: Kxc3 → Kf7 → Kd4

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♟♟
♙♟
♙♙♟♙♟
♔♙
Black to move · rating 2067 · solved 638 times · 5 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Ke3

Solution: a5 → bxa5 → Kb7 → Kd2 → Ka6 → Kc2 → Kxa5 → Kb3 → e3

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♟
♟♟
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♙♙
White to move · rating 2068 · solved 776 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: g5

Solution: b4 → axb4 → axb4

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♙♔
White to move · rating 2094 · solved 717 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kd6

Solution: Kh6 → Kd5 → Kg7 → Ke5 → Kg6

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♟♟
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♙
Black to move · rating 2095 · solved 734 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: f4+

Solution: Kf6 → gxf5 → Kxf5

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♟♟♚♙♟
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♙♙
White to move · rating 2106 · solved 716 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: h5

Solution: gxh5 → Kxf5 → h6 → Kg6 → Kf4

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♟
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White to move · rating 2115 · solved 730 times · 4 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: fxg4

Solution: hxg4 → Kf7 → Kf3 → Kg6 → e4 → h5 → gxh5+

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Black to move · rating 2156 · solved 742 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: h6

Solution: gxh6 → gxh6 → a4

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♟
♚♟♙
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♙
White to move · rating 2225 · solved 685 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kc5

Solution: a5 → Kb5 → b4 → fxg5 → Kxe5

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♙♟♟
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♙♟
♙
White to move · rating 2259 · solved 709 times · 4 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: fxg3

Solution: fxg3 → e4 → Kc4 → Ke5 → b6 → Kd6 → Kd4

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♟♟
♟
♙♟
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White to move · rating 2301 · solved 765 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kf8

Solution: Ke4 → f6 → d6 → Kf7 → Kd5

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

Pawn endgame tactics puzzles by difficulty

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