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Pawn endgame tactics Puzzles: Challenging Level

Real puzzles from rated games · median rating 1808 · solved 95,837,264 times

Difficulty 1600–1999

These are pawn endgame tactics puzzles rated 1600–1999, the Challenging level on this site. They come from real rated games: 50,063 puzzles, median rating 1808, solved 95,837,264 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 challenging level: the numbers

There are 50,063 pawn endgame tactics puzzles at challenging level, solved 95,837,264 times in total. The median rating is 1808.

Often combined with

Endgame tactics · 50,063Quiet move · 12,660Defensive move · 12,568Zugzwang · 12,255Advanced pawn · 7,300Promotion · 2,957Deflection · 1,493Sacrifice · 821

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 challenging level (4% of all 50,063).

34.2% need 2 solver moves, 41.9% need 3 solver moves, 13.3% need 4 solver moves, 10.6% need 5 or more solver moves. Median rating: 1807 for the shortest solutions, 1813 for the longest.

59.6% open with a pawn move. The first move captures in 23.4% and gives check in 5.4%; 1% end in checkmate, 0.1% involve a sacrifice, 51.4% have White to move.

23.4%first move captures
5.4%first move gives check
1%end in checkmate
0.1%involve a sacrifice

How many moves does the solver need?

2 solver moves
34.2% · median rating 1807
3 solver moves
41.9% · median rating 1797
4 solver moves
13.3% · median rating 1797
5+ solver moves
10.6% · median rating 1813

Which piece plays the key move?

Key move by a pawn
59.6%
Key move by the king
40.4%

What does the solver win?

Most valuable capture: pawn
61.2%
Captures nothing along the line
33.9%
Most valuable capture: queen
3.8%
Most valuable capture: rook
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)
60.8%
Up to 2 pawns’ worth
34.1%
3–4 points (about a minor piece)
0.6%
5–8 points (a rook or more)
1.4%
9 or more points (a queen’s worth)
3.1%

How much is left on the board?

28 or more pieces on the board
0%
21–27 pieces
0%
13–20 pieces
15.8%
12 pieces or fewer
84.2%

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: g5 (7.2%), g4 (5.8%), f4 (5.7%), f5 (5.4%), h5 (5.1%).

8
7
1.32.22.61.41.32.53.41.86
44.54.33.33.85.47.25.15
3.13.43.133.75.75.83.94
1.61.71.71.13
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.

♟♚
♙♟♙♟
♙♔
White to move · rating 1600 · solved 1,818 times · 4 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: axb4

Solution: a5 → h3 → a6 → h2 → Kg2 → h1=Q+ → Kxh1

♟♚
♟♟
♙♙♟
♔♙
♙
Black to move · rating 1608 · solved 1,648 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Ke3

Solution: Ke5 → Kd2 → Kd4 → c5 → bxc5

♟
♟
♔♙♙
♚
White to move · rating 1610 · solved 1,607 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kh3

Solution: gxh5 → gxh5 → Kg5 → Kg3 → Kxh5

♚♟♟
♙♟
♟
♙
♙♙
♔
Black to move · rating 1626 · solved 2,526 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: f4

Solution: exf4 → d7 → Ke7 → d8=Q+ → Kxd8

♟♟
♟
♙♟
♟♙♙
♙♙♚
♔
White to move · rating 1628 · solved 1,605 times · 4 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kh3

Solution: Kf3 → g6 → Kf4 → Kg2 → g4 → hxg4 → Kxg4

♟♟
♟
♙♙
♟♚♙
♔
White to move · rating 1630 · solved 2,341 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kxf4

Solution: g6 → Kxe5 → gxf7

♟
♟♟
♙
♙♔♚
♙
White to move · rating 1641 · solved 2,488 times · 4 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kg3

Solution: b4 → h5 → c5 → h4 → c6 → h3 → c7

♚♟♔
♟
♙♟
♙
♙
Black to move · rating 1642 · solved 3,547 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: c5

Solution: d5 → Ke6 → e4

♚♟
♟♟
♔♙♙♟
♙
White to move · rating 1677 · solved 2,036 times · 5 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Ka6

Solution: Kc5 → Ka5 → Kd6 → Kb5 → Kxe6 → Kc4 → Ke5 → Kd3 → Kxd5

♟
♟♟
♚♟♙
♟♙♙
♙♔
♙
White to move · rating 1680 · solved 1,734 times · 2 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: g6

Solution: g5 → hxg5 → h6

♔♟
♟♟
♚♙
♙
♙
Black to move · rating 1729 · solved 1,773 times · 3 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kf6

Solution: gxf4 → gxf4 → Ke4 → Kg6 → Kxf4

♟♟
♟♟♚♙
♙♙♟♔♙
♙
Black to move · rating 1763 · solved 1,646 times · 4 solver moves to find.
Reveal line

Opponent's last move: Kg4

Solution: Ke4 → h5 → gxh5+ → Kxh5 → f3 → g6 → f2

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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